The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
by Skychild101
Summary: "It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to being his journey…The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth..." A retelling of Ocarina of Time...except it's in the novel way erm...like before, do enjoy :D and like always, T for violence later on in the chapters...
1. Prologue

Author's Note: I am a horrible person. Why you ask? Well, I've got three stories going on and yet I'm suddenly doing another Zelda novel when I have a Wind Waker going on…I KNOW I shouldn't ANOTHER story but lately, I've been seriously being obsessed with Zelda especially with Ocarina of Time so I MUST write the novel for that one…so here it is!

Disclaimer: Must we go through this? You already know I don't know it.

Prologue:

Silence was all around until an elderly voice spoke through the black scene.

"In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule…Long have I served as the guardian spirit…I am known as the Deku Tree…"

The scene then changed to another one to what it seems to be the inside of a tree.

"The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me. Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy. However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy…"

It then changed to another scene which was a room of a boy who was sleeping on the bed. It looked as though it was having a nightmare since it would always toss around, trying to sleep peacefully but the horrible nightmare would plague his mind like a disease.

The sound of thunder came while the sound from a bridge of being opened came. The horse's neighed filled the night sky while the moon eerily casted its light. The door of the bridge was opened and in front of the open entrance stood a boy in green with a flying figure hovering beside it.

The horse came into the view, galloping away to reveal two figures on the horse. The green figure looked at the people while the other figure on the horse looked back.

Another neigh came, causing me to turn around only to be frozen with slight fear that came across me. I stared at the horrid figure who smirked evilly…

"Navi…Navi, where art thou? Come hither…" the same elderly voice came.

Soon, it revealed a fairy who floated to face the great Tree.

"Oh, Navi the fairy…Listen to my words, the words of the Deku Tree." the Tree replied but it sounded weak as if it was going to die pretty soon. "Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm… Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule…For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world…But…before this tremendous evil power, even my power is as nothing…It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to being his journey…The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth…Navi, go now!" the Tree responded, urgently. "Find our young friend and guide him to me…I do not have much time left. Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!"

Without a word, the fairy whose name was Navi flew off in search of a boy that is without a fairy.

Author's Note: And there you have it! Cha-ching! Next time.


	2. A Boy without a Fairy

Author's Note: And we're back with more of Ocarina of Time! So yeah not much to say…Thanks to Leilah-ReiEvenchilde for favoring Skyward Sword.

Chapter 1: A boy without a fairy

The fairy zoomed out of the place, following the zig-zag that was made from the path. It then exited the maze to reveal the Forest that was also known as the Kokiri Forest. If anything, it looked more like a village with treehouses here and there while a waterfall was at the side of the Forest. Many people—the Kokiri as they were called—filled the place. Some of them would chat, gardening, or just do regular house work.

Being too preoccupied in her thoughts, the fairy didn't see a fence so she bumped into it with her head, letting out a squeak of surprise. But no matter what, she has to get that lazy boy up before the time for the Deku Tree runs out. He has to know what lies ahead of him. If he doesn't, well then…they would probably be screwed.

No matter how many times the great Deku explains it, she still doesn't really understand how he knew that Link is the one that would be able to save them all. Like, it could be anyone…

Finally spotting my house, she zoomed in only to find me snoring away.

"Hello, Link! Wake up!" she yelled, hovering above me. "The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you! Link, get up!" she shouted, furiously.

Groaning softly, I moved my head to the other side as if I was trying to block the sound by using my pillow above my head.

"Hey! C'mon!" Navi practically screamed. "Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy? WAKE UP!"

From the sudden loud shout, I gave a shout of fright which earned me to drop down to the floor. Moaning, I sleepily pushed myself up but suddenly saw a bright light in front of my face. Literally. Giving a shout of unexpected surprise, I swatted the ball of light away and the light screamed as it flew from my hit before she went face first at the edge of my bed.

I stared dumb-founded at the ball of light who dizzily flew up then shook her head to clear out the blurriness.

"Uh…who are you?"

"You finally woke up!" she exclaimed. "But you didn't need to swat me away!"

"Sorry. I don't appreciate when something was right in front of my face."

She scowled. "Anyways, I'm Navi the fairy! The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on! Nice to meet you!"

I stared blankly at her. Give me some credit; I'm still not awake. "Huh?"

She snorted. "And all he says is 'huh'. Are you really that daft or just plain stupid?"

"Are you really that rude or just plain annoying?" I threw her words back at her though in a different way. "How would you feel if you suddenly got woken up from a fairy?"

Navi fumed. "Whatever! Just get up you lazy butt! Hurry up!" she nagged.

"Alright! Alright! Calm your…" I paused to find a better word. "Fairy horses or whatever you guys have!"

Navi huffed as I finally got up. Really; I don't want my day to be spent with an annoying fairy. Ugh. She's so annoying. So, why did the Great Deku Tree wanted to talk to me?

"Why did the Great Deku Tree wanted to talk to me?" I asked once we got out of the house.

"You will find out soon." she said, firmly.

Sneering, I looked at the view from my little "balcony" that was really the path that led to the entrance of my house. Other than my house, there were many other houses such as Saria's house, Mido's, the House of Twins, the Know-it-All Brothers and the Kokiri shop. In the vast area stood a training area and a stream that was running through it. The area is bordered by the Lost Woods to the north and east and at the southernmost point of the forest was where the Great Deku Tree was located.

That's where I have to go.

There were also many tall platforms of cliffs that had a bridge being connected to each other.

Just from the name of Mido instantly made me to sneer. I never really liked that kid; he always thinks that he's the boss of everyone. Alas, I would never get rid of him since no matter where I go, he would always find a way to insult me just because he's probably jealous of me since I am Saria's best friend. He would always tease and insult me since I don't have a fairy. In other words, I am the "boy without a fairy" as some people would call me.

Ah, but I'm afraid that the nickname shall no longer be used. I can prove to them that I have a fairy—an annoying one, that is.

"Yahoo! Hi, Link!" the sudden voice shouted, happily. I looked down to see Saria. However, I suddenly got a strange reaction from her; my heart fluttered from the sight of her. She's so beautiful. Wait what? I didn't say that…

"Hey, Saria!" I called back before jumping down to the ground.

"Wow! A fairy!" she exclaimed, cheerfully. "Finally, a fairy came to you, Link!"

"Yeah I know…she's kinda annoying."

"Hey!" the fairy exclaimed. Saria giggled.

"But just wow! That's great news! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Saria." I smiled. "I can't wait to rub it off at Mido."

She frowned. "You guys are not at it again, are you? You promised me that you two won't fight anymore."

I chuckled, darkly. "That's tough luck. He won't stop picking on me. I can't stand him and he can't stand me. He's been nothing but jealous of me."

She sighed. "I know. I just wish that maybe someday…you two would get along."

I felt sorry for Saria since sometimes Mido's teasing would go too far. I was just happy that she started talking to me again. You might as well guess it; Mido and I had a huge fight yesterday that caused everyone to see it. Mido would always go too far which ended up hurting Saria. Because of that, I punched him in the face getting him a black eye while also calling him that was an insufferable git.

Apparently, the news had travelled to the Deku Tree so as a result, both Mido and I got punished from him.

"Now you're a true Kokiri, Link!" her voice snapped me back to reality.

I smiled, softly. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Like Navi, she urged me to go to the Deku Tree. However, I knew that I had to get a shield and a sword and plus, I really didn't feel like talking to Mido just yet. He's really an insufferable git. Anyways, I recalled that I had seen a hole in the Training Area one time when I practiced some of my moves. Having that in mind, I went to the Training Area to crawl through the hole that was there; I did just that.

The thing with this hidden pathway was with the nasty huge boulders. I really despised them since one time I was stupidly enough to actually do one of Mido's dare and nearly got killed.

I smirked when Mido got an earful from Saria. Oh yeah and from the Deku Tree. Timing it right, I easily avoided the boulders whenever I could. Before I knew it, I reached the treasure chest in which I opened it to reveal the Kokiri Sword. It wasn't much but it was enough to have something that could defend me.

Getting out of the place, I head my way towards the Kokiri Shop after talking to the girl (who I could never remember the name) that was sitting on the edge of the rooftop of the Kokiri Shop.

"Welcome!" the shop owner replied, jumping up and down to see the customer. He was short. "Shop around! We sell shields but not swords!"

"I need to buy a shield." I responded. The owner nodded, scurrying towards the Deku Shield that was made out of strong wood and had a strange symbol in the middle. After buying it, I thanked the owner and got out of the shop.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A boy without a fairy." the familiar voice sneered.

I rolled my eyes as I reached the entrance that led to the Deku Tree. However, I eyed his face and smirked when I saw that his eye was still black but I could tell that it was slightly healing.

"Look kid, I don't have time for you. So move out of the way or I'll make you." I warned.

He scoffed. "Is that the best threat you can give?" he then noticed that I had bags under my eyes. He smirked. "Didn't get enough sleep, did you?"

Groaning with annoyance, I shot back. "Do you know why I'm so tired? Because everytime I look at your face, it takes all my energy _not to puke! Now move!"_

With a hard shove, I pushed him out of the way while also hearing him muttering some nasty choice of words. Automatically, I was greeted by two Deku Babas that sprinted upwards as if it was an attempt to strike me. But with two quick spin attacks, they were dead.

I also killed one more of the Deku Babas before resuming following the path. I exited out of the mini maze, only to meet with the Great Deku Tree. It looked really old…that's all I have to say.

"Great Deku Tree…I'm back!" Navi announced once we entered. I was behind her so I mocked her but instantly, I closed my mouth shut when she turned around; I gave her a cheeky grin.

"Oh…Navi…Thou hast returned…" the Tree seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Link…Welcome…"

I nodded, letting him know that I was listening.

"Listen, carefully to what I, the Deku Tree, am about to tell thee…Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless, and full of nightmares…As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it…Verily, thou hast felt it…Link…The time has come to test thy courage…I have been cursed…I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage. Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?"

I nodded. "Yes."

I think.

"Then enter, brave Link, and thou too, Navi…" I snorted.

Navi brave? Yeah right. The mouth of the Deku Tree opened while the Tree spoke that Navi must aid me. Aw great.

"And Link…When Navi speaks, listen well to her words of wisdom…"

Then we went in.

Well what's there to expect? We're inside of a tree with nothing but tall and small cliffs and some vines that would be attached to them. There was also a ladder to help me to climb up.

I went straight ahead but the minute I did, a Deku Baba popped out. I unsheathed my sword to kill it with a stab then a horizontal slice. Seeing a ladder to my left, I climbed up then turned to my right to jump on some branches that were sticking out. I scaled around the path until Navi stated that there are vines growing on the wall.

"Maybe you can climb it, Link!"

A clicking-like noise came up so I looked up to see three spiders. Frowning, I decided not to climb up the vines just yet. Not until I have something that could reach the height of them. I only have a sword. And I'm pretty sure it won't really work if I throw the sword at them…

I again scaled the tree path until I had to jump a gap to reach the other side. Then, I turned to my left to see a door. Oh yeah; Navi interrupted me by saying that I can open a door by standing in front of it.

"Must you always interrupt me?" I asked, entering a door but suddenly got slammed shut by the metal bars. I turned around to see the sudden bars then eyed the nearly small room.

Navi huffed. "Well the Deku Tree did say to listen to my wisdom of words."

I snorted. "I'm surprised to see that you have brains at all."

Fuming, she huffed again then zipped under my hat.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as I felt her tugging a piece of my hair. "What was that for?!"

"For being a jerk, you big meanie!"

Something popped out of the ground. It is covered with reddish-orange leaves and has a greenish-yellow body. It looks more of a bush if anything. When I came closer to it, it went back to its hiding place.

Ah, I get it. If I stay back, it will emerge out of the ground. If I come closer to it, it will hide. Gotcha.

I waited for it to attack and when it did, it sprouted out a Deku Nut. Thinking, I deflected it with my shield which was sent flying towards the shrub. It flipped out of the ground and started to hop away. I ran after it but only to be stopped at a corner. The shrub seemed to be shaking with fear.

"Ow-ow-ow! Forgive me, master! If I give you a clue, will you let me go?" it squeaked, shaking with fear.

Master? I stared at it blankly. "Uh sure?"

"When you jump off a high cliff, you will roll on the ground when you land and won't get hurt from the fall. I can't guarantee it will work, though, if the cliff is really, really high, heh heh!" it gave out an impish laugh. "Well, try it if you are feeling bold! Wah ha hah!" it cackled before the shrub ran away to its hiding place.

Right then.

"I don't know who's wackier. The shrub or you, Navi? OW! Stop pulling my hair!"

She blew a raspberry.

"Oh real mature."

Grumbling, I got out of the arena and saw a chest ahead. Running to it, I opened it up to reveal a slingshot. I grinned at the item as I remembered that as a child, I had always wanted one of these. Up ahead, there was a ladder so I shot it down with the handy dandy slingshot. I then jumped on a platform then to the firm ground and then I got out of the room.

The odd shrub wasn't there when I entered the battling arena. I exited out of the room then turned to my right to jump a gap whenever I needed to. I scaled down the path to reach those vines in which Navi had stated before. Looking up, the slingshot seeds destroyed the spiders. It was then that I climbed up the vines so that I can reach the top.

I scaled the path yet again to reach my destination. However, a spider dropped down at the side and I was about to attack but the brute attacked me first by ramming itself at my chest. It spun around and once I got up, I took out my slingshot to hit it. The Skulltula turn upwards before it started to swing sideways. After one more hit, it was destroyed.

Once I got to the top of the trunk, I jumped down from a ledge to the ground only to land on the web that bounced up and down. Frowning, I went back up and then I decided to give me a good distance. Running, I jumped off the ledge and finally, the web was broke. I gave a yell as I continued to plummet down, leading myself to the roots of the tree.

My scream got cut off since I splashed in murky warm water which I shuddered at it unpleasantly. The area I had noticed was covered heavily with water-logged that contained a platform which is unreachable right now.

I climbed up to press a switch and that had lit a torch nearby. Seeing a spider on the gate that was close to me, I killed it with the Fairy Slingshot. I got out my Deku Stick to light it up though I was unsure if I would make it to the other side since it had water. I noticed that the water was only up to my ankles.

Smiling happily, I had reached the other side with the fire still intact. Yet, the stupid blue spider attacked me with its pincer by sinking them on my left arm. I winced at the sting so I placed the stick on my left hand to get out my sword. Now, I'm left handed so of course the movements of the sword were sloppily but it did made the spider to retreat back.

I then lit the web that was covering the wall to burn it. The web revealed a door which I went in. But, the shrub came out of the ground when it sensed that an intruder was here.

Rolling my eyes, I waited to attack and when it did, I deflected the nut by using my shield. And the chase began.

"Please forgive me, master! I'll never do it again! If you spare me, I'll teach you something cool. You will never beat my brothers up ahead unless you punish them in the proper order. The order is…" it seemed hesitant to tell me but in the end it told me rather reluctantly. "2…3…1. Twenty three is number one! Do you think I'm a traitor?"

"Well gee I don't know. You just told me on how to _destroy _your own siblings." I muttered but it didn't hear me since the shrub went away as it spoke 'do you think I'm a traitor?'

"What do you think that means? 2, 3, 1. Twenty three is number one." I asked.

Navi shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we will see when we get there." she then widened her eyes. "Argh Link! Where did you get that wound on your left arm?!" she shrieked.

I laughed sheepishly. "Um…from the spider before…Hehe…"

Fuming, she replied. "You're so careless! When this is over, you're going to Saria so that she can fix you up! Goddess's damnit! Who knows if that venom is poisonous!? It probably is!"

"Navi shut up." I muttered, rubbing my temples as we got out of the arena after I hit the eye switch with my slingshot.

"NO! But anyways, after you get into the water, you can dive you know. I bet there are some interesting things underwater!" she stated, flatly before zipping back into my tunic hat.

I rolled my eyes at her laziness. And she calls me lazy. Huffing, I started to explore more of the Deku Tree while also battling some new enemies but really only Skulltulas, Skullwalltulas, deku babas and yeah. Every now and then, Navi would tell me how to do stuff such as stand next to the block and grab hold of it. While holding it, I can push or pull it.

But, when I exited out of the water-room, I got locked in. Again. Seeing a deku baba, I killed it within seconds and then I lit (by using the Deku Stick) the two torch stands from another torch stand that was already lit. It triggered the metal bars to go up, earning my way out.

Room after room, I was back to a water-room where I had to burn the web. I fell down and like before, my scream got cut off when I plunged myself into a disgustingly murky water. Something rammed at the side of my body hard and I was sure that it was a bruise.

I then looked to my side to see two shrubs. They are probably the Shrub brothers or whatever the heck. However, unlike the other two, one of them did manage to be killed but the other one got out of its spot and hopped around trying to get away from me.

Nonetheless, I still caught up to it.

"How did you know our secret?! How irritating! It's so annoying that I'm going to reveal the secret of Queen Gohma to you!"

"Queen Gohma?" I asked.

But the shrub ignored me. Well then.

"In order to administer the coup de grace to Queen Gohma, strike with your sword while she's stunned. Oh, Queenie…" he replied, sadly even though he was shaking with fright. "Sorry about that!" he squeaked before running away.

However, I also noticed that my vision was starting to get hazy but once I blinked twice, it was almost gone. It wasn't gone completely but I could still see properly. What was that about? I then went back to the time where I got attacked from that spider. Maybe it's venom was poisonous and it had finally caught up to me.

Groaning, I fell to my knees which caused Navi to look at me worriedly.

"Link?! Link! Are you alright?!" she cried out.

I didn't answer her right away, making her to be even more worried. When I was sure that it had passed away, I answered her.

"I-I think so…"

Gathering up my strength, I went through the door. It was misty and semi-dark and with a hard slam, the door slammed shut, causing me to turn around with surprise. I suddenly felt something eerily watching me as I went through the misty fog.

"Um Navi…do you get the sudden feeling that you're being watched?" I asked, quietly though my voice slightly echoed.

She nodded mutely. And then she gasped.

"What-"

"Link look up!"

I did what I was told, only to jump back with sudden fright as a single glowing yellow eye filled the dark place. It moved around and as it did, the light was slowly coming back to this place. And then, once it knew that it was spotted, it made the eye to rotate back then with a hard THUD, it dropped down to the ground.

I froze in my place when I watched the great big eye staring at me creepily. I shuddered from its gaze while I just realized that it looked like a spider-like creature though scarier than the other ones I had faced. It lunged at me and I quickly did a backflip to move out of the way.

"Navi what do I do?!" I hissed.

"Oh? I didn't realize you wanted my help." she shot back.

"Navi!"

"Alright!" she replied, hastily. "I actually don't know. Maybe you could use your slingshot."

Going with that, I aimed for her eye and it recoiled in pain once I struck it two times. It went haywire and I continued to hit the eye with my sword until she went back up. Angrily, she crawled back to the wall then climbed up. I watched her every movement since I really don't want to die here.

Since my aim wasn't that great, it was hard for me to kill at the eye. After I missed her eye three times, I was finally able to hit the eye. Good thing too since I thought she was going to lay eggs.

Ew.

It stunned her, dropping her to the floor which allowed me to strike it. On the other hand, I was pleased to know that I didn't get any injuries from the battle and finally after the fifth strike, the beast let out a roar of pain since it knew that it got defeated. The great beast crumpled before letting the blue flames disintegrated her.

"Well that was…quick." I replied.

"Yeah…a bit too quick. But it doesn't matter! Let's get out of here, Link! Quick!" she urged me, flying towards the blue light.

The blue light covered me before it lifted me up and then I found myself on a firm ground.

"Well done, Link…" the Deku Tree looked sickly than before. "Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage…I knew that thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes…Now, I have yet more to tell ye, wouldst thou listen…?"

I nodded. "Yes."

If trees could breathe out a sigh of relief, this one did…

"Now…listen carefully…A wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me…"

Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled abruptly into a scene though really a flashback came into my mind. It wasn't really a flashback…The scene showed raging flames while a horse's neigh came. I could faintly make out the figure but as it came closer, I realized that it was Ganondorf.

"This evil man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule…For it is in that Sacred Realm that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods…"

The scene morphed into a new one which was having rain falling down.

"Before time began, before spirits and life existed…Three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule…"

Something came down below from above the sky. It looked like three shining lights; each of them was glowing with their respective colors such as green, purple* and blue.

"Din, the goddess of power…" he replied, showing the purple-pink light.

"Nayru, the goddess of wisdom…"

A blue light came.

"Farore, the goddess of courage…" it was the green light.

When they collided into the ground, a small fire came before it quickly got extinguished. Then, a blue circle outlined everything and followed by another blue circle that spun upwards. Something fell into the foggy sky as blue and green lightning followed by.

"Din…With her strong flaming arms, she cultivated the land and created the red earth." Below the misty sky, came the Earth's ground.

"Nayru…Poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world." the streak of blue light washed over the Earth to reveal a clear blue sky though there were some clouds and a bright sun was shining down.

"Farore…With her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law."

The once lifeless ground suddenly had colors coming back to them. I just realized that it looked awfully similar to the Kokiri Forest…

Rain came down when there was a new scene. The three goddesses flew back to the sky but they collided to one another, emitting out a blue circle which created three small golden triangles; the Triforce.

"The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence. And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm."

The abrupt pull made me to blink twice.

"Thou must never allow the desert man in black armor to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce…Thou must never suffer that man, with his evil heart, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend…That evil man who cast the death curse upon me and sapped my power…" the tone of his voice drastically changed to bitter.

I squinted my eyes before blinking them. Was it just me or was the Deku Tree…fading?

"Because of that curse, my end is nigh…"

"What?" I exclaimed though somehow I already knew that he was going to die soon. "Deku Tree… no please!"

He gave me a sad smile. "Though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started…"

I was shaking with rage at this demon man. He will pay, that I can grant.

"Yes, I will pass away soon…But do not grieve for me…" his voice was getting weaker and tears were threatening to spill from my eyes. "I have been able to tell you of these important matters…This is Hyrule's final hope…"

I didn't realize it but apparently, I was on the floor. Not wondering how I got on the floor, I scrambled up while hearing urgent in his tone.

"Link…Go now to Hyrule Castle…There, thou will surely meet the Princess of Destiny…"

The Princess of Destiny…? I stared at the Tree blankly until it hit me.

"Princess Zelda?!"

"Take this stone with you. The stone that man wanted so much, that he cast the curse on me…"

A blinding green light suddenly appeared out of nowhere and I shielded my eyes from it. The green light subsided and there above me, stood a green stone.

"The future depends upon thee, Link…Thou art courageous…Navi the fairy…Help Link to carry out my will…"

She nodded and I could tell that she forced herself not to cry.

"I entreat ye…Navi…" he suddenly spoke quietly. "Good…bye…"

The sudden black lines followed up the trunk and everything went silent. I mourned for the Deku Tree, gazing at the ground. Deku Tree…I promise you… I will kill that bastard. I promise you that.

"Let's go to Hyrule Castle, Link!" Navi sniffed. "Good bye…Great Deku Tree…"

And then, the minute I took a step, I…

Also collapsed.

Author's Note: *sniff* I get really emotional whenever Death occurs…noooo! And looks like the venom had finally got up to Link. And I'm not sure what Din's light color looked like. To me, it looked like purple-pink…


	3. To be seen or not to be seen

Chapter 2: To be seen or not to be seen

Slowly, I fluttered my eyes open and after I blinked my eyes from the sudden light, my vision came back. I stared upwards to see a wooden ceiling then my eyes travelled down. I was in a house, that I can tell you.

"Link…" the soft voice made me to search for it until my eyes landed on Saria who looked really worried.

"Sar…ia…?" I replied, almost in a weak voice. She nodded. "Wh-where am I?"

"In the infirmary. I was worried when Navi came, zooming towards me. You're lucky to have such an amazing fairy, Link. Don't get me wrong, I like my fairy too but you two have…like a connection, if that's how you want to say it. The spider wound is fixed but I would like it if you could stay just a bit longer until it is fully healed."

The word spider immediately made me to remember about the Deku Tree. I didn't realize it but the wetness had watered my eyes so I knew I was crying now.

Saria's expression went to soft as she placed her hand on mine. "Something else happened. You rarely cry. What happened?"

I refused to tell her since I was afraid of what her reaction will be. Will she turn away from me?

"Link, please tell me." her voice pleaded.

Almost reluctantly, I told her. "The…Great…" I let out a shaky breath, "The Deku Tree died."

She gasped, covering her mouth.

"It was my fault." I replied.

"What do you mean?"

"If I had gotten there sooner, none of this would have happened! I'll make that bastard pay!" I responded in a dark tone.

"Link, you didn't know—"

"You don't get it, Saria!" I slightly raised my voice, making her to flinch from it. "_Everyone _will hate me because they most likely will believe that I had killed the Deku Tree! No one knows the real story other than me and Navi. They won't believe it! And to ask you a request, just hate me like everyone else."

* * *

I finally got out of the infirmary and thought about going back to my treehouse until something rammed me against a wall.

"_What did you do?!" _a voice snarled.

Temporarily, I saw stars and when they were cleared, I saw Mido who looked furiously and he grabbed the scruff of my tunic when he rammed me against the wall.

"The Great Deku Tree…did he…die?! How could you do a thing like that?! It's all your fault!" he spat, angrily.

I glared at him. "It wasn't my fault and I would know since the Deku Tree himself told me the true story of what had happened. If I told you, you wouldn't believe it."

He was shaking with such rage that it would probably scare of a Kokiri. I however wasn't fazed by his reaction one bit since I gave him a death glare look.

"And do you know whose fault really is?"

No answer.

"It's yours, Mido. If you had let me to go in sooner, I would've probably saved him on time. But you and your goddess's damn stubbornness and attitude declined me to do so." I replied, trying not to punch him in the face again. "So I will ask you and you _will _obey to it."

Mido narrowed his eyes.

"_Get your filthy hands off me!" _unfortunately, I didn't punch him in the face no matter how many times I wanted to. This kid seriously needs to be taught a lesson so all I did was that I shoved him off me rather roughly since he fell to the ground.

Not looking back, I changed my mind and got out of the Kokiri Forest. I couldn't bear to look at the hateful looks from the people I had known for so long. And especially to Saria. It wasn't easy to make a request like that but I had to.

I got out of the Forest and into the unknown. No one had ever gotten out of the Forest and if they did, they will die. I ran across the bridge until a voice spoke.

"Oh, you're leaving…" I halted in my tracks.

"Who's there?!" I demanded. "Show yourself!"

I turned around and saw Saria who looked sad.

"Saria?" I asked, walking up to her.

"I knew…that you would leave the forest someday, Link…Because you are different from me and my friends."

I gave her a weak smile.

"But that's okay. We will be friends forever, won't we?"

She seemed to be worried about that. I nodded.

"Of course we will. You're my only best friend."

She smiled before having silence coming down. She then spoke while handing me an object. "I want you to have this Ocarina…Please take good care of it."

"A-are you sure?" I stammered. "But isn't that yours?"

She nodded. "Yes and I believe that you can handle it. It may come of use to you than it was to me."

I gingerly took the Ocarina and placed it in my pouch.

"When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back for the forest to visit."

"I'm not sure if I should visit the forest, Saria."

Saria gave me a sad smile. Nothing happened before I started to run away but before I did, I unexpectedly gave her a hug that nearly thrown her balance off.

"I'll miss you." I whispered, feeling her hug tightening. Then, we pulled off and I ran away.

Saria watched the scene sadly before she could no longer see me.

I stopped to catch my breath while also trying to control the tears that would threaten to spill out. I _hope _I can visit the forest someday. When I got relaxed, I decided to continue though a thought crossed my mind. Where do I go now? Clearly, I never think these through properly.

Sighing, I ran until another voice interrupted me.

"Hoo hoot! Link…look up here!"

I looked up to see the owl.

"It appears that the time has finally come for you to start your adventure!"

"Adventure? What adventure?"

"You will encounter many hardships ahead…That is your fate. Don't feel discouraged, even during the toughest times! Go straight this way and you will see Hyrule Castle…You will meet a princess there…Did you get all that?"

"Yeah sure." I mumbled.

"Alright then. I'll see you around! Hoot hoot hoot ho!"

With that, it opened its massive wings to take off leaving me in my own thoughts as I continued to venture further. I continued to run until I reached my destination and it was only then that I had made the Owl's thoughts to go into my head.

Hyrule Castle…?

Zelda—_Princess _Zelda?!

I was going to meet her! Oh Goddesses!

No sooner or later, the vast Hyrule Castle came into the view by the time the sun had been setting down. I stared at the gorgeous Castle that I had heard from the Deku Tree. It held many towers—small and tall—here and there and it has a massive courtyard what I just realized it was the market. There were people chattering almost everywhere while a group of women seemed to be gathering at a certain spot.

The great fountain was in the middle of the Market and it was then that I saw the Hyrule Castle.

Apparently, I was too engrossed into this since I had bumped into someone. It was a pretty woman with chestnut hair.

"Hey, your clothes! They're…different…You're not from around here, are you?"

I shook my head. "No. Erm, sorry for bumping into you."

She laughed. "No worries." she then noticed the fairy. "Ohh…You're a fairy boy from the forest!"

"Hi! I'm Navi, pleased to meet you!" Navi introduced herself.

"My name is Malon! It's nice to meet you both."

"Trust me; meeting _her _is the most regrettable thing you will ever do in your life." I mumbled.

"Hey!" Navi protested. "You're a big meanie, Link!"

She held an amused look in her eyes as a twinkle came. "Well anyways, my dad owns Lon Lon Ranch! Dad went to the castle to deliver some milk, and he hasn't come back yet…" worry came into her voice.

"Oh, I see. I hope he comes soon. Anyways, I have to go. I need to do some things." I replied.

"Oh okay. I hope I will get to see you around more."

I smiled. "I think you will."

Halfway through the path, I called back. "My name's Link."

* * *

"_The princess is inside the castle just ahead. Be careful not to get caught by the guards! Ho ho ho hoot! On this ground, time flows normally. But time stands still while you are in Lon Lon Ranch or in a town. If you want time to pass normally, you'll need to leave town." _

"Link got himself a girlfriend! Link's got himself a girlfriend!" Navi sang when we reached the spot. Night had fallen.

"Shut up, Navi! She's just a friendly person!" I hissed. "Now _get out from the sight!"_

She stuck her tongue out. "No! Why don't you mak—"

Navi let out a muffle sentence since I practically seized her tiny body in my fist and hastily placed her in my hat.

"Now _shut up_!"

A pull.

"OW! Stop pulling my hair! You're going to make me bald!" I hissed, annoyed.

Damn, Navi's really annoying.

I heaved myself out of a stream that went around the Castle. So that would explain why I was dripping wet. Anyways, I saw a firm ground in which I could get myself up so I did just that. The sun was slowly starting to rise back up and I knew I was probably running out of time.

I also pulled some large crates here and there since they had blocked the entrance of a door though I didn't went through the entrance. Instead, I climbed up on the stack of crates I had made to jump across. It was a little slippery because of the water but I held my balance.

I crawled through the small entrance that was there and I noticed that I was in the Castle's courtyard in which there will properly be…guards.

Hey, what do you know? There's already a guard that was walking his route. I went behind a bush, eyeing the guard's movement before making my way towards the other square bush. I practically did a somersault since it would be slightly faster.

The guard stopped since he thought he had heard something rustling nearby. He turned around, eyeing the "wall" skeptically before resuming back to his route. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that happened.

The next part wasn't easier for me since I had to control Navi who wanted to fly. There were two guards; each walking around the two fountains.

"Navi, sit still!" I hissed, dangerously.

"Oh Link! Please let me distract them!" she pleaded.

"No!" just as I was about to put her under my hat, she zipped out of my fist. "Navi!"

I was just lucky that I had grabbed her because the guard looked behind. Curiously, he spotted something glowing and what he thought to be a _hand _sticking out of the second fountain. He walked closer to it while hearing my heart hammering against me. I was pretty sure he could've had heard it.

I drew in a sharp breath when I saw the shadow of the guard.

"Kelvin!" one of the guards' voice came.

The guard, Kelvin, turned around. "Yes?"

"The captain wants you."

After that, I didn't really paid attention to what they were talking about but once it was cleared, I let out the breath I was holding for so long.

"You see what would've happened?!" I exclaimed, quietly.

Of course, there had to be another guard in the next section. I climbed up the marble stairs to climb on the vines that was above the guard. I was just lucky that I could blend in so easily.

Thank you for having green.

Oh yeah; there's also a guard in the next section. But what do you expect? It's a _castle _so of course, there's going to be guards every 24/7. Muttering, I eyed the guard before I made my move.

Gasping, I quickly did two somersaults when I reached the other part.

So close to being caught.

Unfortunately, luck just wasn't on my side. When I reached the end of the path, the damn guard had somehow caught me. It might've been where I had decided to get out of the spot I was currently in but apparently, the guard had caught a glimpse of my green tunic.

"Hey you! Stop!" the guard yelled.

"Oh _fuck_!" I shouted. I started to make a mad dash until something had covered my mouth and pulled me away from the guards…


	4. Melodies and Meetings

Chapter 3: Melodies and Meetings

"Hey, let me go!" I protested, struggling violently to be loose.

"Will you shut up for a second!?" it hissed.

Hmm…there seemed to be a lot of hissing going on…

"How about no?!"

"Then I guess you want me to turn you to the guards."

Now _that _made me to shut up.

The figure smirked. "Didn't think so."

Violently, I pulled the hands away so I turned to face the figure; I couldn't really see the figure since it was covered in the shadows.

"Why are you here?" the figure asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I sneered.

The person began to open its mouth.

"Alright! Alright!" I exclaimed, frustrated. "I'm here to see Princess Zelda."

I was pretty sure that if I could've seen the figure more clearly, it would've been surprised.

"Oh? Well, she's currently here but I however need to go." it sounded urgent.

"And why's that?" I demanded.

The figure didn't reply since I saw it going away. Sighing, I peeked through my hiding spot to make sure that the guards vanished then made myself to run. I stopped myself to see a figure that was about my height. The person noticed that there was someone there so it turned around.

I stared at the figure who was there and it seemed to be shocked that there was even a person.

"Who?!"

She wore a dress that held all the Royal's crest designs. Her blue eyes that made me to stare at it held with surprise of shock. I noticed that she had pointed ears so I'm guessing she's a Hylian.

"Who are you? How did you get past the guards?"

I grimaced. "Well I didn't exactly get past the guards that great. I got caught at the end until a figure pulled me away from them."

She seemed to fidget about that, making the curiosity to rise into me.

Does she know something that I don't know? Does she know who that figure was?

Navi seemed to be examining her which caught the girl's interest.

"Oh? What's that?"

After eyeing it, she spoke. "Is that…a fairy?! Then, are you…Are you from the forest?!"

I nodded.

"Then…then… you wouldn't happen to have…the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you?! That green and shining stone…"

"Oh this?" I got out the stone out of my pouch. She gasped.

"Yes! Just as I thought!" she laughed all of a sudden, making me to stare at her.

"I had a dream…In the dream, dark storm clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule…But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds and lit up the ground…The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy…"

She had a dream about…me? Erm, don't know if I should be honored or to be freaked out.

"I know this is a prophecy that someone would come from the forest…Yes, I thought you might be the one…Oh I'm sorry! I got carried away with my story and didn't even properly introduce myself!"

There's no need…

"I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."

It was hard to detect what tone she had used to say her name. Sadness? Bitter?

"What is your name?" she changed her tone into a curious one.

"Link."

I had to force myself to snap out from the beauty of Zelda. She's so pretty…

"Strange…it sounds somehow…familiar. Ok, then Link…I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please keep this a secret from everyone." she pleaded.

"Of course."

"The legend goes like this…"

It was raining while three glowing lights appeared in the dark sky.

"The three goddesses hid the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule. The power to grant the wish of the one who holds the Triforce in his hands."

The three goddesses zoomed towards the sky, leaving the floating Triforce behind.

"If someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity…If someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil…that is what has been told…So, the ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones."

The Temple of Time…why is that familiar?

Of course! I had read it in books about the Hero of Time and the Temple of Time. To me, those two would always be connected to each other.

The Triforce floated into the sky, vanishing from sight. The strange pull made me to realize that I was back, still facing Zelda.

"That's right…The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And, in order to open the door, it is said that you need to collect three Spiritual Stones. And another thing you need…is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend…The Ocarina of Time!"

I blinked. Wait…then what type of Ocarina did Saria gave me?

"Did you understand well the story I just told you?"

I nodded.

"That's great! I forgot to tell you..." she moved out of the way, motioning to the window. "I was spying through this window just now…The other element from my dream…the dark clouds…I believe they symbolize…that man in there! Will you look through the window at him?"

"Yes."

I peered through the window and saw a figure all clad in dark armor with blood red hair. That instantly made me to be frozen at the spot where I couldn't move.

That man…

He looks so familiar…

"Can you see the man with the evil eyes?"

My eyes were glued to the window as I saw the man bowing and I couldn't really hear what Zelda was saying. I was too busy focusing on that man. That man who cursed the Deku Tree. That man who made the Deku Tree to die.

"That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the desert far to the west. Though he swears allegiance to my father. I am sure he is not sincere."

"He's not." I gritted through my teeth as I felt my hands tightening until they were white. I wanted nothing more than to break this window and kill that bastard.

Zelda looked at my sudden reaction but didn't say anything about it. "The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream…They must symbolize that man!"

As if he had sensed that someone was watching him, he turned around and eyed me. I gasped, getting away from the window while losing my balance so I fell on my butt.

"What happened? Did he see you?" she asked, seeing the reaction.

I was too numb to answer. Those cold malice eyes would penetrate my mind every now and then. How could her father _trust that man_? Why is he so thick?!

"Don't worry." Zelda's voice made me to snap back.

"Zelda—"

"He doesn't have any idea what we're planning…yet!"

"Planning?" I echoed.

"Yes. I told my father about my dream…However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy…But…I can sense that man's evil intentions!"

"Then he's a fool." I replied, darkly. "For not believing in you. It would be his own fault for having a downfall."

I started to go walk away until Zelda cried out.

"Link! Where are you going?! Come back here!"

"I'm going in there while hoping to convince your father!" I stated.

"Link! Be reasonable! I wasn't supposed to be spying! My father forbids me to do so! LINK!" she cried out, tugging on my tunic. "What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm!"

I stopped in my tracks, still feeling the rage boiling inside of me.

"He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And, he wants to conquer Hyrule…no, the entire world!"

"Then we _must somehow _convince your father, Zelda!" I responded, nearly snapping at her.

"I know but we can't! Link…now, we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule! My father is just too stubborn. Nothing will change his mind! Please!"

She begged me even though it was un-princess-like to do so though I hardly doubt she cares at this moment. I stared at her pleading blue eyes that made my heart to flutter.

"I…" sighing, I gave in. "Alright…"

She gasped with happiness, giggling. "Thank you! I…I am afraid…I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you have come…We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! He shall not have it! You go find the other two Spiritual Stones! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does, and then defeat him!"

I nodded, determined. "We will!"

"One more thing…take this letter…I'm sure it will be helpful to you."

She handed me the letter and with one last look, I went away. However, I eyed the Throne Room.

There were things that needed to be done.

* * *

"Ah, Kelvin." the king replied, seeing the guard coming then bowed. The King motioned Kelvin to rise. "What brings you here?"

"I came here to report that there was an intruder. I got a glimpse of a figure that wore nothing but green and seemed to have something glowing beside him. I just spotted him when I came back from talking with the Captain."

"Oh? Hmm…"

"He seemed to be going to Princess Zelda."

Something made him to be silent.

"Capture him." he ordered. "Don't rest until he is found."

The green boy with a fairy. Why does that seems so familiar?

"Ah but I'm afraid I can't do that."

The King raised an eyebrow. "And why's that Kelvin?"

He sighed. "Things aren't always want they seem." Kelvin took off his guard mask which alerted the other guards to be in a fighting stance while the King stared at the guard suspiciously.

"I'm the boy with the fairy." I replied. The guards immediately started to come at me. There were about five guards, making me to smirk. With a quick backflip, I made the guards to collide into one another. The King was too stunned to even call for backup.

I knew I was going to get an earful from Zelda if I got captured and was thrown into the dungeon. I blocked the oncoming attack with my Kokiri Sword and pushed the guard out of the way so that he had stumbled into the next guard, falling down like dominoes. Seeing a rope that was randomly lying on the ground, I ran towards it after dodging the next guard's attack.

I then grabbed the rope before running to the oncoming guard. I jumped into the air and placed the rope on the guard's neck while placing the other end of the rope on the other guard's neck. I pulled them down as I went down to the ground.

The guards fell down, unmoving. No, they're not dead. Just unconsciousness after hitting against each other hard.

"I'm sorry to say, sir, that your guards had just been taken down from a mere child." I replied, simply to the stun King.

It was a while before he finally managed to speak.

"Guards-"however, he had stopped in mid-sentence when he saw something whizzing past by him and it struck the Throne chair instead. The King held his breath when he saw an arrow on the chair—the arrow that had nearly struck him.

I threw the bow and arrows on the ground after "borrowing" from one of the unconsciousness guards. Why do they have Bow and arrows, I will never know and I'm going to be so screwed if Zelda ever found what I had nearly done to her father.

Mannn…

"What is the meaning of this, Mr.-?"

"I shall not reveal my name to you just yet. Not now but only when the time is right. I have a few words to say to you."

With a nasty sneer, the King reluctantly spoke. "Go ahead."

"That man, who I just saw, is no good at all. The man, Ganondorf, is after something sacred—the Triforce. The reason he swore to be your allegiance so that he can obtain the information about the Triforce. When he does, nothing will stop him from getting it."

I properly just tweaked Zelda's words here and there but oh well.

"How dare you accuse one of my most trusted men?!" he exclaimed, outraged. "That idea seemed preposterous! Especially if it comes from a sixteen year old boy!"

I scowled at him. "But sir! If you don't do something—"

"NO! You're lying and this conversation is _done! _Now leave before I tell the guards to throw you into the dungeon to rot!" he replied, darkly.

I stared dumb-founded at the stupid King. Does he really think that Ganondorf can be trusted? I mean he's Ganondorf, for Farore's sake! The evil man from the legends! Clearly, he didn't read the legends.

"I will not move until I see you doing some changes!"

Furious, he shouted. "GUARDS!" or rather bellowed since he managed to rattle my eardrums.

Thanks.

More guards came, blocking every exit…except for one. I smirked. Even though he's the King, he can be really daft. I ran up to the King then did flip over the chair, making him to gasp as many guards ran towards me hoping to catch me on time. With full speed ahead, I crashed through the window and into the stream that was deep enough to cover myself from them.

Huh…who knew there was a stream right behind the King's window?

I held my breath as long as I could and when I thought that it was safe, I swam away from the window and swam towards the surface. I gasped out, eagerly taking some oxygen while pulling myself out of the stream. You could say, crawling out of it since I was on my knees.

After catching my breath, I got up though still shaking and then I let the events that had happened just now to run into my mind. What had I done? I groaned when I realize that I would probably be one of the 'wanted' criminals or whatever the heck.

Something roughly pulled me back from the back of my tunic.

"Are you stupid or just plain idiotic!" the voice hissed, angrily.

"It's you again! How do you always manage to find me?!"

"That's not important now! What important is that you practically got the whole damn Castle on a tight security. Every _single guard _is out on the lookout for you! And the King won't rest until you have been thrown into the dungeon to rot! I bet you're happy with yourself, aren't you?"

I glowered at the figure who hid in the shadows.

"Aren't you!?" it demanded.

"At least I'm not a coward. I'm not a coward who always has to _hide _in the shadows in attempt to hide its identity. Are you really that scared to show your identity?" I demanded back.

My words seemed to make the person to go quiet. Well good. I was really not in the mood to talk to anyone.

"The thing is, _Link_, you don't need to know who I am just now. Maybe later on. Just not now."

I was too angry to even ask how that person knew my name. Why do bad stuff always happen to me?

"And even if you did manage to somehow convince the King, you can't possibly defeat Ganondorf with that _sword_! You need a much precious sword—a sword that can only defeat the evil for good. You need the Master Sword. Clearly, you haven't read the legends that well."

"I did!" I protested. "I just forgot."

"Oh you just forgot?!" it sneered. "Will you forget when you battle Ganondorf and suddenly you die in a battle because of a stupid mistake?! Will you forget that?!"

I went to the silence mode.

"Didn't think so." it hissed, angrily. "Now just get out of here before something bad really happens. I'll guide you out of here and after that you're on your own!"

"I don't _need _your help." I replied, stubbornly.

* * *

"That figure is right you know." Navi replied when we were out of Hyrule Castle. A strange woman who called herself Impa told me what I needed to do and I had also played a new song—Zelda's lullaby—from her. It sounded really beautiful with its perfect high pitch and the nearly hauntingly melody.

"_Take a good look at that mountain. That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire. At the foot of Death Mountain, you will find my village, Kakariko. That is where I was born and raised. You should talk to some of the villagers there before you go up Death Mountain. The song I just taught you has some mysterious power." she would repeat herself. "Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn this song. Remember, it will help to prove your connection with the Royal Family. The Princess is waiting for you to return to the castle. Alright. We're counting on you!"_

I cringed when the strange lady told that Zelda would be waiting. She would so not be happy if she had ever found out what I had done.

I really needed a horse. It would be much faster to get to certain places I needed to go. So, that's where I was headed to.

Kakariko.

I also brought a new shield under a disguise I had put myself on. The shop owner didn't seem to be curious about me since he properly thought that I was one of the people that were in the Market.

It's the Hylian Shield.

Anyways, I lied. I changed my route so instead of going to Kakariko I went back to the Kokiri Forest since I had sudden feeling that I needed to do something there. It looked dreadful to say the least.

The sky wasn't a happy one but it was grey. The Kokiris that use to come out were gone; probably in their homes.

I climbed up the vines and into a path that led to the Lost Woods. But I got stopped before I could go in.

"Hey, over here! Hoo hoo!" it was that owl. "Link…Good to see you again! Listen to this! Hoot hoot…After going through the Lost Woods, you will come upon the Sacred Forest Meadow. That is a sacred place where few people have ever walked. Shhh…What's that? I can hear a mysterious tune…You should listen for that tune too…Hoo hoo ho!"

I went into the Lost Woods as I could hear the tune playing. It was a bit faint but I still could hear it. Something about that tune was familiar…I think it's just me.

Anyways, I came across the Sacred Forest Meadow like the owl had said until a low growl came out of nowhere. I turned around to see a canine beast.

Wolfo, no doubt.

I took out my sword and went into a fighting stand while the beast growled at the intruder. It ran at me in attempt to scratch me but I quickly dodged it. I spun around in a circle to perform a spin attack yet the Wolfo managed to avoid it. Barely… since I sliced a part of its body.

The Wolfo seemed to ignore it and when it lunged again, its claw went down from my cheek to the forearm; just above the elbow. Wincing, I finally killed it after doing a backflip and then I stabbed it at the chest.

I was just lucky that it didn't made a scratch on my neck. The Meadow was like a maze with twists and turns while having enemies like the mad shrubs that mostly filled the Meadow. There was nearly a large puddle of water in it as well.

I climbed up the stairs and saw a building with a stand that was in the middle of the field. Gasping softly, I saw that it was Saria who looked so peaceful when she was playing the tune. The melody was soft and well it can relax people.

I walked towards her but she stopped playing as if she knew a person was here.

"I've been waiting for you, Link! This is the Sacred Forest Meadow. It's my secret place! I feel…This place will be very important for both of us someday. That's what I feel. If you play the Ocarina here, you can talk with the spirits in the forest. Would you like to play the Ocarina with me?"

I smiled. It has been a long time since I last saw her. It might've been a few weeks I'm not sure; it just felt like it has been a long time. I nodded while she smiled softly.

"Ok, try to follow along with the melody I will play. Are you ready?" I nodded.

I carefully listened to the tune when she played it and soon, I joined her. The music was heavenly and I really felt relaxed—something in which I hadn't been able to do since I started my journey. I felt the wind picking up softly and when the melody died down, Saria gasped happily.

"Great! Great!" she giggled, cheerfully. "Please don't forget this song! Do you promise?" she smiled after seeing me nodding. "When you want to hear my voice, play Saria's Song. You can talk with me anytime…"

With that, I left her while hearing the tune slowly fading away until I was met with silence. Goddesses…I had really missed her…I missed my home. I missed about almost everything including where I get to sleep in. Now, I can't do that anymore. I slightly winced when the sting from the scratch made me to pay attention to it.

I would need to take care of that.

While I'm here, I also prepared the supplies that I need such as food, water and the gauze since I have a feeling that I would be injured throughout my journey. I also made sure that no one else would know that I came back. I would be leaving any time now, anyways.

Right after I get some sleep.

By the time I entered myself in Hyrule Field, it was already sunset and pretty soon night had fallen. I was just happy that I had been able to sleep in my treehouse before I got back to my journey. Halfway through the path, Navi told me that Impa said that the Spiritual Stone of Fire is somewhere on Death Mountain.

Of course, enemies would pop out of the ground at night such as stalfos with their scary red eyes. The only light I had was from Navi. She can be useful when she wants to be.

Another halfway through the hike, the sun had slowly started to ascend and I reached my destination. It had a huge field that was filled with some animals, mostly horses and there was a building next to the ranch. I thought about the ranch and that girl, Malon.

Could this be the Lon Lon Ranch?


	5. Epona and Nightmares

Chapter 4: Epona and Nightmares

"My mother composed this song, isn't it nice? Let's sing together." Malon responded, excitedly.

I took out my Ocarina.

"Oh, cute ocarina! Are you going to play this song with that ocarina?"

"I will if you teach me that song."

She laughed. "Okay!"

The song like any another songs I had learned was beautiful. All songs were beautiful; it's just how you play it.

I didn't realize it but it had attracted Epona. Wherever I go, she would follow me and when she did caught me, she would nuzzle. I smiled, petting her soft mane and she snorted with happiness.

"Hello there, girl. Epona." I whispered, running my fingers through her mane.

"Aw she seems to like you now." Malon said, watching the scene.

"Yeah, I guess she does."

When I got out of the "Horses Field", I was nearly got knocked over by another horse that galloped on the path I was currently on. I dodged out of the way, seeing the dust rising up. Muttering, I continued to walk on the field away from the Ranch. I had got the finest milk from Malon's father which also made me to realize that it was my very first bottle.

Well…

Anyways, I reached Kakariko Village. Like any other village, it was a village with houses here and there; few people were in the village while a giant wind mill stood among them. This reminded me of the Market from Hyrule Castle.

I entered in and saw a few Cuccos walking around while I also saw a person trying to catch one as I entered further in.

"Ohh come back here!" she moaned, missing the Cucco by an inch.

However, I had noticed that she didn't exactly try to catch it. What's up with that?

"Excuse me but do you need some help?" I asked, watching the girl getting up and brush some dust.

She looked up and was surprised to see a newcomer. "Oh hello! Are you new here? We barely have any new visitors. But yes, help would be appreciated. If you see any Cuccos lying around, please bring them back in this pen." she motioned to the one to where she's standing beside it.

"Okay. This shouldn't be too hard. How bad could it be?"

Okay, I take it back. This was _worse! _Every now and then, the stupid Cuccos would fly out of my grasp.

"Argh! Come back here, you useless Cucco!" I shrieked, seeing a Cucco running away from me.

Now some of you must be wondering: why on Hyrule would a _hero _decided to capture Cuccos instead of focusing on saving Hyrule? Well good question: it was mainly the fact that I decided to take a break from the "hero" stuff—trust me, I don't even consider myself to be called a hero. I haven't done any heroic deeds just yet.

Keyword being _yet_.

My life just got complicated tenfold.

Eyeing the Cucco that seemed totally oblivious, I ran towards it then dived on the ground. The Cucco gave out its squawk when it realized that I had grabbed it by both of its leg.

Ha! I win!

…I will admit that this is my first Cucco…

So um erm…lovely day, isn't it?

There was one Cucco that seemed to be hard to get it since it was behind a fence while I was in front of it. I took out my slingshot—what? It was the only way of getting it out—and shot at it. The animal seemed to squawk at the sudden shot and got out of the fence, making me to chase it.

I finally got it after spinning in circles for so many times which ended up me being dizzy. I laid on the grass after I placed the Cucco back in the pen. After I got myself in order, I thought I heard an animal noise inside of a crate.

Don't ask me why…

I rammed myself against it by doing a somersault and it freed a Cucco that ran away from me. I stared at it blankly, wondering how on Hyrule did a Cucco got inside of a crate. Yet again, it wasn't worth to try to understand it.

I even got myself a lift off when I captured the third one. Yeah, I was being lazy so I didn't want to walk…I only needed to walk whenever it is needed.

Anyways, I finally got all of them and the girl thanked me by apologizing for not helping me since she has allergies so she gets goosebumps when she touches them.

I got an empty bottle as a reward; those things are so helpful. After the talk was done, I spotted a path that was just ahead of the girl so I went to it because curiosity got the best of me.

I really should stop being so curious since that could be my downfall someday.

The path led to a Graveyard which gave me the bone-chill as I had shuddered, having goosebumps. I eyed the first tomb which read:

_R.I.P_

_Here lie the souls of those who swore fealty to the Royal Family of Hyrule. The Sheikah, guardians of the Royal Family and founders of Kakariko, watch over these spirits in their eternal slumber._

I shuddered, unpleasantly from the message. Navi would nag me by saying the same thing over and over again with the Spiritual Stone of Fire being somewhere on Death Mountain.

"I know, Navi!" I snapped.

"Then why don't you go to Death Mountain?!" she replied, irritating.

"Well gee I don't know. Maybe because I don't want to _die _on _Death Mountain_?!"

"Oh real ironic!" she fumed before eying a kid. "Ask him." she pointed to the boy.

Sighing, I ran up to him and he spoke.

"Little kids can't go on the 'Heart Pounding Gravedigging Tour' described on the sign. Since I can't do that, I'm just imitating Dampe the gravekeeper all day. But with my cute face, I'm not heart-pounding at all, am I?"

"Uh sure?" awkwardly, I went away from him. "Dampe? Who's that?"

"The gravekeeper." she replied, simply.

I gasped, dramatically. "Oh really? I never knew that!"

"You're so insufferable!"

"You mean like you?"

Huffing, she zipped under my hat to pull my hair. Growling, I felt specks of something that was touching my skin. I just recognized that it was raining, making the wraparound bandage that was on my arm to be soaked.

_The crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule is inscribed here. _

Thinking, I got out my Ocarina to play Zelda's lullaby. I don't know but something nagged me to do it. All of a sudden, thunder and lightning boomed and flashed which caused the rain to pour down heavily. I jumped from the sudden thunder and everything went eerily dark as it flashed while making an appearance on the tombstone.

I suddenly have a bad feeling about this.

Green and yellow light crackled on the stone before it let out a column of light that vanished. Fog-like came from it and it suddenly exploded, causing me to fly back from the explosion. A sudden scream came and I couldn't tell you how frightened I was when that happened.

It only took a moment to figure that the scream came from me. I eyed the hole that came out of the tombstone so after getting up, I ran towards it then went down the hole.

I really have a bad feeling was my last thought.

"Damn it, Link! Wake up!" Navi muttered, hovering angrily above me. "Must you always pass out?!"

Groaning, I got up as I massaged my head since a headache was going to come soon. It was semi-dark since I had Navi's light brightening up the place a bit. And then, I got everything in order so I took a look at the place.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Inside of the Royal Family's Tomb." Navi announced.

I gasped when I saw decayed bones scattering around the floor. I really hate dead bones. Think of something nice. Think of something nice. My breathing got faster all of a sudden as I pressed myself against a corner from a wall.

Think of something nice…

My eyes went into a spook mode which worried Navi.

"Link…" she spoke, quietly.

I began to rock back and forth while muttering incoherently. I really have a bad feeling; hence that was why my body was shaking so badly. Shutting my eyes won't really work but it was worth a try since I thought I could block the horrible scene.

"Link if we get this over with, you won't have to endure seeing these things again. I can promise you that." Navi replied, touching my cheek with her small hand. I shivered from the touch.

I managed to open the gate that was in front of me once I entered another new room and I went through the door after climbing up the stairs that appeared. A low moan that was almost like a growl was heard as I saw green mist in the next room.

I reallllyyyy have a bad feeling about this.

I harshly landed myself on a green liquidly substance that seemed to be harming since it felt like it was acid. Gasping, I got up while thinking that I should really be paying attention especially to a place like this. I jumped back with fright when I saw a redead—I think it was a redead—giving out a horrible bone-chilling screech that made me to paralyze for just moment.

Not wanting to fight it, I ignored it and followed up the path. I walked on the path that had the green acid on either side of it. Running up ahead, I saw something written on a wall.

_This poem is dedicated to the memory of the dearly departed members of the Royal Family._

I studied the ancient texts that were craved into the wall while occasionally running my hands over it.

"The rising sun will eventually set. A newborn's life will fade." I murmured, being confused of what that meant.

_From sun to moon, moon to sun…Give peaceful rest to the living dead. _

"This is an interesting poem…huh?" I hardly paid attention that it was Navi who was talking.

"What? Oh yeah…"

She flew towards the wall. "Something is inscribed on the tombstone…" Navi replied, seeing some lines and dotes on it. She then gasped. "It's the secret melody of the Composer Brothers!"

Taking out my Ocarina, I studied the notes before pressing it to my lips. The tune came out of it as I swayed gently to it. Unbeknownst to me, something happened to the sky. It seemed that the storm had slightly died down.

_Restless souls wander where they don't belong, bring them calm with the Sun's Song. _

"The Sun's Song?" I scrunched my face in concentration. "That's probably the song I just played." Navi nodded.

I was quickly met with the redead when I got out to the room that had the acid pool. It screeched, spotting its intruder. With a quick few hasty strikes, the thing erm died. Bolting out, I finally reached the door until something decided to trip me sending me down to the hard stone ground. I grunted when I collided with the floor, nearly scraping my knee.

Turning back was the worst thing to do since the shriek came the moment I shrieked. It was the redead that grabbed my ankle and was now creepily dragging itself towards me.

Panicking, I got my sword to start hacking the bloody beast away. This is sooo going to become a nightmare for me. Leave me alone! I painfully stabbed the monster right at the face, making it to screech horribly as I clasped my hands at my ears to block the horrid sound.

This was one scene where I do not like to revive it. The fiend recoiled in pain, pulling the sword hastily while making me to gasp when it threw the sword away that nearly came close in contact with the acid pool. It was hanging on the edge of the ground threateningly as if to say one wrong move and the sword would go plunging down.

Gasping, I scrambled up to do a somersault so that way I could easily grab the sword faster. When I did (just in time since the redead lunged at me) I stabbed the monster right through its chest and it let out its infamous screech of pain. The "blood"—I didn't even know if that was blood but it didn't even feel like it was blood—poured on me like rain while I tried not to let go. Not unless this thing is dead. Completely.

Once it finally surrendered itself to its doom, I let out a shaky breath before bolting out of the place for good.

It was dark like nighttime dark when we got out of the Tomb. I was seriously shaking badly that every step I took, I would think that I would collapse from all of the shaking.

Proving to play the Sun's song was very helpful especially if you didn't want to wait for the sun to come up. After playing the Sun's song, the sun came up and I couldn't be happier when I went back to the familiar village.

Graveyard is not the one place I wish to go to.

"Eh? Oh, I see. You're just a kid, and you can't read yet. Ha ha hah!" I scowled at the stupid guard that was guarding the gate. I wasn't sure if that guard was one of the Hyrule Soldiers but even if he was, he didn't show any signs of capturing me.

Frowning, I thought about Zelda's letter and wondered if that would work. I stuffed the letter into his face in which he caught it.

"Oh, this is…This is surely Princess Zelda's handwriting!" I suddenly froze as I just figured it out that this guard is one of the Hyrule's soldiers…

I prayed to the goddesses that he won't recognize me. Please have luck to be on my side, just this once.

"Hmmmm…ok…." he muttered. "This is Link…"

I flinched when he widened his eyes.

"You!? You're the boy in what the King wants to be captured!"

"Hold it." I snarled. "Read the letter _fully_."

Reluctantly, he read it. "He is under my orders to save Hyrule. Wah ha ha ha hah!" he suddenly burst out laughing, causing me to do a double take back.

"You think this is funny?!" I exclaimed, furiously.

"What kind of a funny game has our Princess come up with no—"

The sudden gulp from him had let me know that I had a job well down when I pressed my sword against his throat.

"You _will _follow Princess Zelda's order if you value your life!" I hissed.

Nodding mutely, I slowly let the sword out of his throat so he could continue to read it.

After that, he said that I could go. "Ok, ok, alright! You can go now…just be careful." he muttered, unwillingly. "Mr. _Hero_!" he sneered. "Wah hah ha ha hah!"

I would've murdered that guard if I was a murder but I'm not. I don't want to be like Ganondorf.

With his spear banging against the ground, the metal gate opened.

"Thanks so much for your help." I drawled before going up the path while also hearing the guard saying:

"I feel such a traitor."

I smirked.


	6. Dodongo's Cavern

**Shout outs: **Thanks to Blacknephilim987 for following and favoring Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Chapter 5: Dodongo's Cavern

"_By the way, Mr. Hero, if you're going to climb Death Mountain, you should equip a proper shield! It is an active volcano, after all!"_

Well when the word mountain comes across your mind, what do you imagine? Lots of snowy mountains that reach high at the sky with an indefinite temperature that could freeze your body in less than a second.

You're wrong. This _mountain_ is filled nothing but tall rocky cliffs and terrains endlessly. Every turn you take there would be always either a rock or a cliff at your side. There would be smoky clouds that would always surround the peak of Death Mountain that reflects the state of the mountain. It would also have falling boulders.

Strange like crab creatures would come out to attack me every now and then but they would quickly try to attempt to attack though they had met their end with a quick spin from my blade.

**Dodongo's Cavern**

_Don't enter without permission!_

A sign would say once I saw a boulder that blocked the entrance. I didn't know but I bumped into something hard and I was for sure that I had thought I had broken my nose. Massaging it, the object got up and my mouth went in an 'o' shape.

"I am one of the Gorons, the stone-eating people who live on Death Mountain. Look at that huge boulder over there! It blocks the entrance to the Dodongo's Cavern, which was once a very important place for us Gorons…But one day, many Dodongos suddenly appeared inside the cavern. It became a very dangerous place! On top of that, a Gerudo in black armor used his magic to seal the entrance with that boulder!"

I clenched my fists that Gerudo. It was Ganondorf no doubt. Did I mention that I will make him pay?

"If you want to hear more Goron gossip, head up to our city!" he advised me. "Goron City is just a little way up the trail. It won't take much longer to get there, even on foot."

"Alright. Thanks for the tip!" I replied before climbing up a path. Before I knew it, the sun had once again rose down.

The sun finally descended down, letting out the moon to take over. Pretty soon, I arrived at a strange place. It was located in a cave which is in the northeast corner of Hyrule. In the center of the cave is a platform that is suspended by ropes. I just realized that this must be Goron City since it was filled with well Gorons. Running up ahead, I walked on a wider ledge that would lead me on a circle that was in the middle.

"Hey!" a Goron's voice came.

I jumped with startle. "Oh hi."

"It's dangerous for a little kid like you to come out here. You might fall down! If I'm not mistaken, you came out here to eat the red stone! Well, too bad! It's not here!"

"What? _Eat_?" I asked, incredulously. "What?! I'm not here for that…"

"Oh? Then why are you here?"

"I'm looking for a Spiritual Stone that is said to be here."

Something made a spark in the Goron's mind. "Oh! You must mean that delicious-looking red stone that was once displayed here!"

"Yeah, that." I said, flatly. Delicious?

"I was so hungry that I thought it would be ok to just give it one tiny little lick…so I snuck out here. But, it was already gone! I took Big Brother took it away. He always says that everyone is after that red stone!"

"But this time, it's for a good cause. I have a reason!" I tried.

"Hmm…well Big Brother has shut himself up in his room saying: 'I will wait in here for the Royal Family's messenger'!"

"Well I'll see what I can do."

"Oh you will? Thanks! There's a door if you jump down straight ahead."

With that, I jumped down and stared at the door. The designs were hard to see but it looked like a Triforce. Thinking, I got my Ocarina to play Zelda's lullaby and the door opened as an answer. I went in to see a tunnel before a nearly medium size chamber that had tables, torches and such came into the view.

Seeing a Goron who looked like an elder, I went up to him but before I could speak, he beat to me first.

"What the heck!? Who are you?!" his deep voice rumbled.

Well, that's a nice hello.

"When I heard the song of the Royal Family, I expected their messenger had arrived, but…you're just a little kid! Has Darunia, the big boss of the Gorons, really lost so much status to be treated like this by his Sworn Brother, the King?"

I fumed. "_Well_, I was the one who _played the song of the Royal Family!_"

He snorted. "Yeah, sure midget. Now…_get out of my face, now!_"

"No!" I replied, stubbornly. "Why are you so oh I don't know grouchy?"

He sneered. "If you must know, ancient creatures have infested the Dodongo's Cavern! We've had a poor harvest of our special crop, Bomb Flowers! Starvation and hunger because of the rock shortage!"

You know, I have read about Gorons in a book and they told me that they eat rocks. At first, I didn't believe it but now…it seemed…real. Why, they're practically are made out of rocks themselves.

"But…This is a Goron problem!"

"And let me guess: this is not a job for a shrimp like me?" I sneered.

"Well I was about to say 'we don't need any help from strangers' but yeah, that works."

I glared at him while muttering some nasty choice of words under my breath. I stomped away but before I could get out of the room completely, I suddenly got a bright idea. Turning back, I went to face the grouch again.

"I told you to—"

"You will listen first!" I slightly ordered. I took out my Ocarina to play Saria's Song.

For a minute, nothing happened since the Goron stared at me deeply before he started to _dance_. Freaked out, I cautiously went back while hearing him speaking.

"Oh! Oh-oh! C'mon! Come on! Come on! Come on!"

I don't know if I should be worried for his sanity or to go and get someone.

"Hot! What a hot beat! Whooooah! YAHOO! Heeey! What a nice tune!" he exclaimed even though I was slightly scared of him.

"Just like that, my depression is all gone! Something just came over me! I suddenly wanted to dance like crazy! I am Darunia! I'm the big boss of the Gorons! Was there something you wanted to ask me about?"

I nodded. "Somewhere within Death Mountain a stone lies. A Spiritual Stone."

"You want the Spiritual Stone of Fire, too?" he asked, a bit stunned.

"Trust me: this is for a good cause."

"The Spiritual Stone of Fire, also known as the Goron's Ruby, is our race's hidden treasure…But hold on—I'm not going to give it to you that easily."

"But—"

"If you want it so badly…Why don't you go destroy the monsters inside of the Dodongo's Cavern and prove you're a real man?"

Ouch. However, I don't feel like getting burned alive.

"That way, everybody will be happy again! If you do it, I will give you anything you want, even the Spiritual Stone!"

This is a life-"threatening" situation! But he does make a good point though either way, I don't have a choice now do I?

Didn't think so.

"I have something for you. I'm not really giving you this in return for anything, but take it anyway. If you wear this, even a little fella like you can pick a Bomb Flower."

He handed me a gold bracelet.

…kay then. These Gorons have such big ego.

"Well thanks then." I muttered before exiting out of the room. I noticed that there were unlit torches so I went back to Darunia's room and took out my Deku Stick to light the top. I then went back to the room to light all the torches. The statue started to spin around as did I. When it settled, I was dizzy so I stayed in one spot to get everything in order.

I then climbed up the stairs that led me to be beside the spinning statue. I climbed another set of stairs and saw a bomb while thinking that the bomb has to do something with that spinning statue. Cringing, I took out the gold bracelet while hearing Navi stifling a laugh.

"Oh shut up." I growled.

"…Are you really a girl instead of a guy?" Navi asked, stifling a laugh.

Growling, I hastily shoved the bracelet on my wrist and of course Navi burst out laughing.

"You look like a girl wearing that!" Navi laughed as I picked up a Bomb Flower.

"It wouldn't be so funny if I accidentally drop this bomb on you, now would it?"

That made Navi to shut up.

With a perfect throw, I threw the bomb in the hole of the spinning statue. It went berserk once it got blown up and out came a red Rupee…Staring at it, I collected it by jumping down to grab it and then climbed up the stairs to where I had seen the Bomb Flower. It led me back to Goron City and I exited it out.

I then saw a Goron after turning to my right. I wasn't surprised to see that it was nighttime.

"I'm standing here to shade the Bomb Flowers from the sun. Do you have a question for me?"

"I need to know about the Dodongo's Cavern."

"Ohh I'm assuming you had seen a cavern on your way here." I nodded. "That is the Dodongo's Cavern. Because the light inside is very dim, the Bomb Flowers, a plant unique to this mountain, grow like crazy in there!"

Hmm…

I thought about an idea. Since the Cavern is right down below us, I should be able to blow the boulder up with the Bomb. Using that idea, the Bomb blew up the boulder. I jumped down below then did a somersault to have a safe landing.

It was then that I entered in.

The moment I entered in, I was greeted by a boulder that blocked the entrance. I saw a bomb next to me so I picked it up after going towards it and then threw it at the boulder. After walking inside, I examined the environment. There was a rocky path ahead of me while a circle was in the middle of the cavern when the path had ended.

The whole arena looked like something would come out of a battling arena. The atmosphere it held was dark and muggy, nearly making me impossible to breath. As I started to run on the path, Navi interrupted me.

"It looks like there are many lava pits around here, so watch your step!"

"Thanks for the obvious!" I replied, sarcastically as I tried to make some air to go into my body after tugging a piece of my tunic.

"I give you a helpful advice and all you gave me was a sarcastic reply" Navi grumbled.

When I came near at the end of the path, I jumped to reach the platform. Of course, I didn't think this through so that's why I started to fall down while screaming inside my mind. A grunt escaped from my lips when I fell onto a medium size rock platform.

Talk about bloody luck.

The lava slowly lifted the rock up and when I timed it right, I jumped to reach the bigger rock. It wasn't quite successful since I grabbed the edge, letting myself to dangle. With a pull, I pushed myself up.

Turning to my right, I jumped to the next platform and then the next one so that I could turn to my right again to grab a Bomb Flower. Picking it up, I turned around to go straight where I had seen a boulder blocking the entrance.

Frowning, I saw something in the small cave-like so I went back to where the Bomb Flower was. The same object was also there and of course, curiosity got the best of me so I went in front of it.

Goddess's damnit! It felt like white hot knives had pierced through my skin and something else had been added to my body which made me to lose the ability to move. Paralyzed. I might've exaggerated with the white hot knives when really, electricity ran through my body almost like lightning.

When it stopped, I painfully went away so I threw a bomb at it and it exploded while I placed my shield in front of me to block the debris.

"Link! You're so stupid! Do you always have to be so curious whenever you visit a new place?!" Navi demanded.

Muttering, I grabbed a bomb since I thought I had seen another wall that needed to be blown up. I was right when it blew up so I went inside. I ran on the small tunnel-like path before emerging a medium-size room. Something started to crawl at the entrance I was about to go through.

They seemed to lack legs and their skin is green while small spikes were on the top of its body. They were easily killed from my sword. More of them appeared as I went further in though some of them would have two legs.

I got to the end since I emerged another room. Seeing a statue, I pushed it away at the back of the statue. When that was done, I went almost to the side of it and started to push it to the direction I wanted to go. It opened up the metal bars that closed the entrance once the statue reached its destination.

After exiting out of the tunnel-like path, I emerged to another room that got locked from the metal bars. Not being fazed from it, I searched the area for any enemies. It was then that something caught my attention since it would hop. Turning to my left, I jumped on the platform in attempt to try to reach to it.

I then went on the third one and this time I was able to see the creature—or rather creatures—fully. It was green with long tails. Their tongues are forked while their mouths are filled with sharp teeth. They also wore a loincloth and a few pieces of armor here and there. What really got me worried was their blade.

I swiftly dodged the first lizalfo attack and I managed to hit it with a jump attack. I tried to attack it again but the stupid thing dodged it so fast that I had trouble keeping up with it.

By the time I was chasing after it, I panted heavily as I was starting to be exhausted.

"Come back here!" I shouted.

I think the lizalfos are mocking me. Well then. A really awesome move was that one of the lizalfos had stopped on a fourth platform, making me to jump off a platform I was currently and did a jump attack to slice its shoulder. It howled with pain and in return, it dangerously swung its blade causing me to lean back as I felt the blade's breeze brushing past my face by an inch.

After the creature dodged my attack, it jumped away with its buddy. Aww. Abruptly, something greeted my back and that made me to fall down on the ground. Quickly, I turned around to see the other lizalfo while I cursed mentally. I was so focused on the first lizalfo that I didn't paid attention to its buddy.

And where did he come from?

Getting up (though my back stung from the cut), I attempted to do a spin attack but as usual, the fiend swiftly dodged it. After few hits here and there, the first lizalfo had finally died. Too bad I couldn't celebrate with victory since I had the other brute to finish off.

I got an idea so I quickly matched the speed of the lizalfo. It was surprised to see that its intruder managed to match its speed but the lizalfo could tell he was tired. Smirking, it saw that its prey was about to strike but the lizalfo had something else in its mind.

Panting heavily, I chucked my sword which was probably a very stupid thing and unfortunately, the brute had avoided it by jumping away. Growling with frustration, I quickly sprinted to my sword and grabbed it. The foe snickered at my poor attempt.

Oh we will see the outcome from this battle! Running, I jumped off the platform in which I was on while I raised my sword so I that I could strike it in its chest. Smirking, the green creature secretly readied its blade since it had figured what its enemy was going to do. At the right time, I stabbed the creature though unbeknownst to me, something else had stabbed me in the middle of the chest.

I gasped at the sudden pain and the creature was of course dead but I collapsed just as the dead creature did. Coughing only made the blood to splutter out of my mouth and I just realized it was the blade from the stupid creature. Navi looked at me with horror though I could vaguely hear her shouting as my vision started to be blurry.

And then…

I knew no more.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid child! Why hadn't he seen it?!" Navi muttered, hovering above her unconsciousness partner. "Of course I can't blame him! I should've shouted out the warning! I should've done something! Oh Link…I'm sorry."

"For…what?" I fluttered my eyes though I shouldn't talk right away since it hurts badly. It felt like something was blocking my lungs and I couldn't get any air in it.

"Link!" Navi hollered. "Are you okay?! Are you alive?! How are you?!" she bombarded me with the questions.

"Fi…ne? But it hurts like hell. I can't even talk at all." I moaned, having my hands at the hilt. Taking the blade out of my chest was probably the worst thing I had ever done. The pain increased tenfold, causing me to gasp and a bit of blood started to soak my tunic. Not that my tunic was already soaked with blood.

"Rest. You're not going anywhere until you feel better." Navi ordered.

"But—"

"_NO_!"

Muttering, I vaguely listened to her orders such as when I feel better, I would need to fix the wound before I could go on. Nonetheless, darkness met me once more.

Because of the wound I had in my chest, it was hard for me especially when I tried to get up from the ground. Mustering all the strength I had, I bit my lip so I wouldn't scream from the pain. I then grunted and gingerly hopped to the next platform so that I could get the hell out of here.

The next room resembled like a tunnel and it was semi-dark. Seeing a boulder, I knew I had to blow it up so I got out of the tunnel and into the next room and saw a bomb at a corner that was at the end of the path. Grunting, I tried to ignore the pain so after picking it up, I went back to blow up the boulder.

When it did, I went in and saw the mad shrub I had seen in the Deku Tree. Carefully taking the shield, I waited for its attack so that my shield could deflect the nut and strike the bush.

"Alright! You win! In return, I will sell you Deku Sticks! One piece is fifteen Rupees they are! Let's make a deal!"

I knew I was starting to run out of them so I said yes.

"Thank you very much!" with that, it buried itself underneath the ground. Shrugging, I got out of the room and went to the chamber that went in a circle. I saw a torch so I took out my Deku Stick and ran up the path after lighting up the top of the stick. I carefully avoided a creature that slithered on the path—I don't really want to fight it—and lit the torches where it is needed.

It unlocked the door once I reached to the top of the path so I went through the exit once the door lifted itself up. I wanted to scream when I forced myself to jump platform to platform in order to reach the door in which I had unlocked it after pressing a switch. The thing that scared me the most was the face of the Dodongo with its sharp teeth.

It was dead but you know it was placed as a nice decoration. I also avoided the beamo. I reached the door and went in, only to find yet another tunnel. Seriously, it was hard for me to breath. The muggy air seemed to be getting worse when I venture further into the dungeon. Sweat would fall so I wiped it away and while the saliva in my mouth was starting to dry up.

"You okay?" Navi asked after seeing that my face went hot.

"Yeah…just really thirsty and hot."

I groaned when the door got locked. I was really not in the mood to fight especially with that wound I have in my chest. However, I saw there weren't any enemies until I accidentally triggered the bomb so it activated the statue to be alive. Stupid sword.

The statue began to hop away while I ran away from them.

I don't want to get squashed thanks.

The statue would change its appearance such as it would gain eye-like mark, showing a cracked pattern on its fronts and backs, change color and markings.

This one was easy to beat since all I had to do was to blow it up by putting a bomb in its mouth and it would bounce around then explode. The door got unlocked much to my relief. However, this next room made me to grin widely which got Navi to be worried.

There were bombs going around in circle so seeing a bomb, I picked it up and placed the bomb on a spot where it is available. The bomb blew up, making the other ones to explode. The slab of stone that was in the middle began to go down so that I can climb the stairs easier.

"I have a madman as a partner!" Navi would scream. I stared at her blankly before shrugging then I continued to climb up the stairs and then turned to my left once I reached the top.

However, a thought would cross my mind such as having me debating which dungeon was better: this one or the Deku Tree as I went through yet another entrance. Again, the door got locked and automatically, I spotted the enemies which were the Fire Keeses and regular ones. I kinda like the regular ones since they wouldn't burn you alive.

They were dead but the locked door wouldn't budge so I saw a ladder that was being blocked by one of the statues and I hauled that one away. Climbing up the ladder, I pressed the switch and it opened the locked door. I went through it and ran down the path before descending yet another path. I also jumped a gap when it was necessary.

I stifled a yawn when I got to the other side.

"Tired?" Navi asked.

I nodded mutely.

"Sleep."

"I don't feel like sleeping in a cavern where it is full of enemies."

"You're so stubborn! Sleep! Or otherwise you will probably lose to fatigue when you battle the big boss! It's now or never, Link!" Navi cried out, exasperated. "Besides, you're going to trip anyway."

"No I wo—"alas, I tripped over a loose board that was from the bridge and fell down to the ground. Navi smirked which made me to grumble. I could even tell that my eyes were drooping with fatigue but I couldn't let the exhaustion to take over me. I struggled to keep my vision clear. Of course, things didn't went the way I wanted and without a warning, I succumbed to darkness.


	7. The search for Princess Ruto

Chapter 6: The Search for Princess Ruto

"No, he won't he says. He falls, it said." Navi muttered while watching me who was slowly coming back to consciousness. "Welcome back to the living." she replied in a sour mood.

I slowly rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

After much protesting and arguing, I finally went back to my hunting. I finished walking the bridge and exited out of the chamber by going into a dark lit entrance. I carefully jumped down after seeing a device that went back and forth. It had spikes protruding at the sides as they looked like boxes with a grey color.

"You never know what will be around the corner in these narrow paths…Just look around in the proper direction. This is a useful technique, isn't it?"

I timed it right to get to the next path and when I did, I made a mad dash to reach to the other side. I pulled the box so that I could climb on it and jump off it to go on the platform that was to my right (I was facing the ladder; hence that was why I said right).

I picked up the bomb and waited for the bomb to flicker itself which was the most dangerous thing to do since I practically had nearly blown myself up by using my shield to protect any damage. It blew up the boulder making me to go ahead once I climbed up the ladder or I rather jumped from the platform and reached the ledge.

I walked down the tunnel path to the end of it as I saw flames blocking the path. Looking up, I saw there was an eye switch which I hit it with my slingshot. The flames died down allowing me to continue. Also, I defeated baby Dodongos as well. I groaned when the door got locked and the lizalfos came back.

I waited for the stupid brute to come to where I am and when it did, I hacked it away with my sword. It was easy to defeat after figuring out their strategy which was the same ones I had battled from before. And then, I headed to another room which had a flame puzzle as I like to call it. Then, continued my way.

In this room, I got a Bomb Bag in which it had twenty bombs in it.

_Giant dead Dodongo…when it sees red, a new way to go will be open. _

It took quite a while to figure what it meant but I got it in the end which was to blow up the eyes from the blue skull with bombs and they will turn to reveal a door. I jumped on the skull to go on the lower flower and then went into its slimy jaw to go to the entrance.

Turning to my right, I walked down the tunnel path and got to my destination after twists and turns. Taking out my bomb, the boulder got blown up so that I could go in.

Room after room, I finally got to the Boss. I fell down into a hole after blowing it up. Something caught my eye followed by a loud THUD so I turned around and my jaw fell opened. It finally stopped stomping, breathing out heavily as it spotted its intruder.

I didn't know what to feel. Fear or something about brave. I would go with fear as I opened my mouth to make a small 'o'. It resembled like a dinosaur though a much bigger Dodongo with its sharp spikes at its back. It released a mighty roar before the battle began when it opened its mouth as if it was sucking the muggy air.

Widening my eyes, I made an attempt to dodge the long fire streak but the streak had got a piece of my tunic sleeve.

Oh Goddesses! I'm innocent!

I drew in a sharp breath when I saw it started to roll so I quickly used my shield as if to try to protect me though I hardly doubt that would work. Being smart, I avoided the fire streak and its roll by standing dangerously on the downward ramp that leads into the lava.

When the beast opened its mouth again, I thought about how I was going to attack him until I decided to chuck a bomb at him. However, it was too late to do that since it released its fire streak and I couldn't really dodge as I was standing in front of it; few meters away from it. I felt its hot heat burning so close to my front body.

I don't know about you but I kinda wanna live, if you don't mind.

When it rolled, I dodged it and when it opened its mouth it was then that I threw the bomb into its mouth. The monster swallowed it, sending him down so that he was vulnerable so I was able to strike him with my sword attack. The brute recoiled in pain once it let out a roar and then it started to charge at me with its fire streak.

Being the stupid person I was (according to Navi), I unfortunately got burned right at my cheek while there was slightly a scorch at the side of my nose. Eep. I of course got rammed hard at the side of the wall when I didn't had enough time to dodge the rolling beast whose roll looked remarkably similar to a Goron when they roll. I thought he was going to open its mouth but it tricked me by rolling into a ball so that was why I didn't had enough time to avoid the rolling as I was close to him.

I cringed at the pain while feeling my bones being rattled. Since I figured out the strategy, I grew bored by chucking the bomb in its mouth and attacking it with Deku Sticks and with the sword. Knowing that the brute would go away, I ran into the air and jumped to do a jump attack. With a slash, the beast screeched in pain as it let out a roar. It finally roared, a final roar, before rolling itself into a ball rotting itself at the same time. It then went into the lava so that the magma had hardened him. The lava also got hardened making a safe way to reach the blue light.

Naturally, I was exhausted while I was also filled with filth and dirt on my face, underneath my fingernails…almost everywhere, really. I felt myself being transported and right on the middle of a random path.

Way to transport myself.

All of a sudden, as I started to walk, something had blocked my shadow so I looked up to see something falling down. I widened my eyes once I saw what it was but I narrowly dodge it as I had still fallen on the ground.

"It's me, Darunia! Well done!" he roared with joy.

"Thanks for nearly killing me." I muttered.

"Thanks to you, we can once again eat the delicious rocks from the Dodongo's Cavern until our stomachs burst!" Darunia spoke as he roughly slammed my shoulder as a way to hug me or something. I fell down from its heaviness while muttering.

I was going to have a very bruised shoulder.

"What a wild adventure! It will make an incredible story…" he suddenly beamed at the idea.

I groaned as I saw stars around me. "Please don't."

He seemed to ignore me since he continued to speak. "I can't believe that the Dodongos suddenly appeared in such great numbers! And that big rock blocking the cave…All this trouble must have been caused by that Gerudo thief, Ganondorf!"

I suddenly found the ground to be comfortable. "You're just figuring that now?!"

"He said: give me the Spiritual Stone! Only then will I open the cave for you!"

"And you believed it?" I asked incredulously. "What's the matter with you?"

"I wasn't thinking at that time." he snapped, making me to snort at him.

"You, on the other hand, risked your life for us…Kid, I like you!"

Oh so _now _he likes me _after _I had been nearly killed in that stupid Cavern. I slightly sneered.

"How about you and I become Sworn Brothers?"

"Sworn Brothers?"

"No, there's no big ceremony involved! Just take this as a token of our friendship!"

He lifted his hands up to let a red glow to appear between his hands. This time, I slowly got up though grunted as I did that. The glow vanished to reveal the red stone that appeared in my hands.

"Brother! You'll keep brushing up on your skills as you travel, won't you? You should go see the Great Fairy on top of Death Mountain! She will power you up! Hey, everybody! Let's see off our brother!" he boomed.

"See off?"

Two Gorons fell from the "sky" and they got up after they reached the ground.

"You did great!" one of them said.

"How 'bout a big Goron hug, brother?!" the two of them started to walk towards me though I suddenly got freaked out which was why I started to scream with fear and ran away from them.

…until I got smacked from something hard. A Goron. The three Gorons surrounded me though I was lucky to be small as I had somersaulted out of the way and up a path. I didn't stop running until I had got to where I wanted to be.

**Mountain Summit**

_Danger Ahead-Keep Out_

The sign read when I fell on the ground to my knees to catch my breath after running for a long time. Never am I doing that again. Once I got my breath back, I resumed to trek up the hill to blow up some boulders when it is needed. A sudden tremor came, alerting me to look up just in time to see falling boulders falling. Using my shield wasn't the best thing to do especially if a big rock came and for a minute, I thought I heard a groan from the shield, wondering if it now had a dent on it.

I swiftly dodged the falling rocks before I reached another hill that had falling rocks again. I timed it right to avoid all of them though sometimes it was a bit difficult as they would constantly fall down. When it stopped, I resumed my hike. I sighed with annoyance as the falling rocks would come down occasionally.

When there weren't any falling rocks, I continued to walk before killing a Skulltula then climbed up a wall as it had some things that could help me to climb its rough surface. I played the Sun's Song so morning can come and I also saw the Owl.

I ignored the Owl for now and headed towards a boulder that exploded into pieces. Warmth greeted us and I felt like I could stay here forever. Yet, I also felt that something was "fixing" me so I looked down at myself to see the wounds I had being slowly healed.

_The crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule is inscribed here._

It said when I looked to see a Triforce at the top of the first stairs. I played Zelda's lullaby and waited for something to happen. A sudden shrill giggle startled me and out came a woman who spun around in the air when it emerged. I gaped at the scandalous woman with a mixture of shock and slight fear.

"Welcome Link! I am the Great Fairy of Power!" she replied, introducing herself. "I'm going to grant you a sword technique. Receive it now!"

She spread her arms out to have sparkles coming out of them and straight at me. I was surrounded by a short column of light. It died down after and I felt it going into my sword.

"When you charge power for a Spin Attack, magic power will be consumed. Pay attention to your green Magic Meter! Hey, boy! You're a messenger of the Royal Family, aren't you?" she suddenly realized.

"Yeah guess you could say that." I muttered, rubbing my neck.

"Next time you're in their neighborhood, you should drop in on a friend of mine who lives by Hyrule Castle. She'll surely grant you another new power! When battle has made you weary, please come back to see me."

With a laugh, she spun downwards into the clear crystal pool of water. At least, I was healed. After that, I exited out of the Fountain to talk to the Owl.

"Hoo hoot! Well, it looks like you've grown up a little from the Great Fairy's power…But you still don't really look like the hero who will save Hyrule. At least not yet!"

I raised an eyebrow but let him to continue to speak.

"If you are going back down the mountain, I can lend you a wing. Come here and grab my talons! And hold on tight! Hoo hooooooooot!"

Going underneath its talons hurt as I felt its sharp claws entering my shoulders but I knew he didn't really mean to do it. I enjoyed the wind's breeze that whipped at my face and just for once, I had felt relaxed. I was actually kind of scared at first but when we got further away, I was comfortable while ignoring the narrow dives the Owl would make.

Pretty soon, Kakariko village was in the view and the Owl dropped me off at the top of a roof and he took off after I said my thanks. Sighing, I was debating on whether if I should rest here at the village or at Lon Lon Ranch or to continue my "Hero's" mission.

"Do you want to play a game? It's 20 Rupees per play."

Ehh why not?

I smirked. "Bring it on!"

I aimed at the bullseye. Yeah, I was at a Bombchu Bowling Alley. The ball struck the bullseye, exploding it to reveal another target. There were some obstacles in the way such as a box trap and…cuccos…

Don't ask why.

Everytime I hit the target's bullseye, the target seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

"Winner!" the owner replied. She then gave me a prize which was a Bombchu as she called it. "This is a new type bomb that can even crawl up walls. Aim well and release it!" she explained.

Cool.

She asked me if I want to play again so I said yes. Naturally, I won yet again to receive a prize which was the biggest-Bomb Bag and it can carry bombs up to forty. Then, I got out of the shop when I said no after she asked me if I wanted to play again.

The sunlight temporarily blinded me when I got out of the Market. Trust me: it wasn't easy since there were guards all over the place on the lookout for the most wanted person…me.

Erm…anyways…

So, that is why I had disguised myself. I didn't really mind being dressed like a guy from a Market since it had helped me to be on alert. I walked on the soft path that I thought it was sand; this is the path that leads to Hyrule Castle. Seeing a vine on a wall, I climbed up and ran on the grass.

I then jumped off and saw a sign that read _dead end_ though there was a boulder that looked like it can be blown up; I did just that. I was met with that same warmth so I knew I was in the Great Fairy's Fountain. After thinking, I played Zelda's lullaby to show that strange women again. Or rather the fairy or whatever.

She laughed shrilly, making me to cringe as she came out of the water. She tapped her fingers at the side of her legs as if she was waiting for something.

"Welcome, Link! I am the Great Fairy of Magic! I will give you a magic spell. Please take it."

Facing forward, a red glow was between her hands. Something floated on my hands and I looked to see a crystal glass-cased containing some kind of an object inside. It looked like fire.

"You can use Din's Fire not only to attack but also to burn things! When battle has made you weary, please come back to see me."

And she disappeared.

…she still freaks me out. And currently, I'm lost since I had taken so many turns and twists that I had nearly ended up at the Kokiri Forest at least twice. I muttered with frustration.

"Beyond this point lies Lake Hylia. It is full of deep, pure water." the owl told me once I finally found him. "The Zoras, who live all the way upstream, guard the sunken temple at the lake's bottom, as well as Zora's Fountain. Be careful and go!" he replied before taking off.

"Hee hee! Under that mask…aren't you that Kokiri Kid?" the voice replied.

"Maybe…" I answered, looking a little skeptical at the wooden figure. I was in the Lost Woods.

It smirked and then it jumped of its stand to look at my mask closer. I brought a new one from the Happy Mask Shop.

"Quite an unusual mask you have there. Hee hee! I like it! It may make me look a little bit tougher. Hey, why don't you give it to me?" it suggested.

"Sure. I don't have use of it anyway." I replied, giving it to the wooden figure.

"Yowza! I'm gonna wear this all the time!" he then disappeared so I went all the way back to the Happy Mask Shop and did some stuff there to.

Sunset fell yet again by the time I had finally reached the Zora's River.

"Hoo hoo! Looks like you've gotten bigger and stronger already, Link!"

I looked down at myself and saw that I had. I hadn't really paid attention ever since I had left the Kokiri Forest. Time sure goes fast.

"Just ahead lies Zora's Domain. The Zoras serve Hyrule's Royal Family by protecting this water source. Their door will not open for anyone except those who have some connection with the Royal Family. Let them hear the melody of the Royal Family! Hooo hoo hoooot!"

I nodded. "Thanks for the tip."

He nodded then took off.

Before I knew it, the night had already fallen as I continued to trek the path to Zora's Domain. I'm interested to see those water creatures as I had already learned them in books but never had I seen them in real life. I blew up some boulders in order to have an open path.

"Chomp, chomp chomp…Nope, it's not my style." a voice came when I got nearer to the gate. It revealed a white interesting person who seemed to be eating something. "Chomp chomp chomp… How about some Magic Beans? They aren't selling very well…How about…10 Rupees for one piece?"

Magic Beans? I've never heard of them but something told me that they may come in handy.

I nodded. "Yes please."

He handed me the Magic Bean that looked like well different colors of beans as they were sitting on a "leaf holder".

"If you want to plant beans, go around and look for soft soil. Chomp chomp chomp."

I bought five more Magic Beans until I decided that I had enough.

"I wonder if Saria knows anything about the other Spiritual Stone." Navi wondered as we were further in Zora's River.

I shrugged. "Maybe." But the mentioning of Saria's name instantly made me to be saddened. I really missed her. I wonder what she's doing now.

"You missed her didn't you?" Navi asked, quietly after noticing my silence.

I nodded mutely.

"Link, trust me. You will see her one day. I just don't know when."

We finally came across a waterfall with a symbol that was carved into the path. Thinking of what the owl had said, I pulled out my Ocarina to play the song. The waterfall split in two, revealing a dark entrance that didn't look welcoming but it was probably from the moon's rays of moonlight beating it down.

I jumped over the small gap to enter the entrance.

I gaped at the beauty of Zora's Domain. The large waterfall poured down into the glittering stream while cliffs and paths were surrounding the water. It looked so peaceful and heavenly; it was like you didn't want to leave this place forever.

Snapping out of my gaze, I followed the path that looked like it led to the Throne Room. A tall interesting figure mourned as if it had lost someone very dear to him.

He wore a red robe with gold linings while what it looked like a crown setted upon its head. The skin appeared to be a pale blue while there were different shades of blue markings etched into his skin.

Was this… a Zora?

"Oh, my dear, sweet Princess Ruto…Where has she gone? I'm so worried…" he mumbled, grieving for his loved one. Realizing that there wasn't nothing I could do, I went out of the Throne-like room and into a next passage only to find another Zora. This one was tall, skinner and pale as it had just like the markings on the other Zora.

"Diving Game. It costs 20 Rupees. Want to play?" he asked, flatly.

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay!" he exclaimed, happily. "Pick up all the Rupees I throw from here. You have only a limited amount of time! When you pick them all up, come back here! I'll give you something very nice!" with a swish of his hand, rupees came out of his flippers and the money sunk into the water.

"Start!" he shouted with excitement. "You have 50 seconds!" he called when I ran.

I ran towards the edge of the waterfall to perform a perfect dive. I collected as many as Rupees as I could before I had to go to the surface for some air. I went back down, having the water to press any silence.

"Hey! Congratulations! I've got something very nice for you! Come and get it!" he shouted when I collected every Rupee. I saw a ladder in which I could go back to the game owner.

"What a graceful dive!" he complimented. "Now take this. This is a scale of our kind. With this, you can dive much deeper under the water."

"Cool." I grinned.

I got the Silver Scale as he had also called it. I decided to try it out since I spotted an entrance underwater in a different part of the Zora's Domain. Once entered, I arrived at what it looked like Lake Hylia. I reached the surface though only to dive back in as I had saw something shiny.

I gave a dumb-founded look when I saw that it was a bottle I had pulled out. Ah well; this is very handy.

The day had come yet again so I saw a door and went in.

"Well, do you want to go fishing for twenty Rupees?" a voice asked me the moment I entered in.

I looked to my right and saw the owner. I nodded as an answer.

"Wow! You have a Rumble-Feature! Today, you can feel the vibration, young man! Ok, listen up! Walk up to the water's edge to look at a fish. While looking at a fish, you can cast your lure. If you don't want it, just bring back the lure by pulling it out of the water. Reel in your lure. Hold down and rotate it with a button at a side to reel it in faster. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

I tried to do what the man had said by throwing the string into the air before plunging it into the water after I looked at a fish. I waited for a moment until I felt a tug on the bait. The fish struggled a lot to break free so a little tug o war seemed to be happening. The fish would struggle and I would struggle while sometimes, the sea creature would jump out of the water in attempt to hope that it will be freed.

The owner jumped with surprise at my first shot when I brought the fish at shore. He told me if I want to keep it and it weighs ten pounds. I told him yes so in return, he stated to return back to the main base after I was finished with fishing.

I decided to fish a bit more as it was fun and very relaxing.

After I had enough, I went back to the owner to collect my prize since apparently, it was a record. Once that was done, I told him that I wanted to quit.

"Come back when you get older! The fish will be bigger, too…Well, maybe."

"I am Bonooru, the scarecrow musical genius! I hear a song once, and I never forget it, baby!"

I then pulled my Ocarina and it seemed to be surprised.

"Whoa! You have an ocarina!" he exclaimed. "Hey, why don't you lay a tune on me with it, baby?!" I played a tune and it started to dance which kinda freaked me out. "Well…not bad!" he replied when the song ended. "I will remember it for you anyway! I don't mean I can remember only eight notes, but let's just cut it right there for now, baby!"

I swam back to Zora's Domain as I had spotted an entrance underwater. It wasn't far as it was where the scarecrow was located. I went back to the Zora of where I had seen it previously which was the Throne Room and I got out the bottle. However, there was something already inside of it.

It looked like a letter with a perfect handwriting that wrote:

_Help me._

_I'm waiting for you inside of Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly-Ruto_

_Ps: Don't tell my father!_

Jabu-Jabu? Who's that? And who's Ruto and her father?

"Ho ho ho! You Hylians…you are such silly creatures!" the Zora chuckled.

I wasn't sure whether to have an odd expression or not.

"Oh, my dear, sweet Princess Ruto…Where has she gone? I'm so worried…" he repeated the same thing again. I perked up at the words he had said.

Ruto…princess? My eyes widened as my mouth made a small 'o' as I realized who this Zora was. It was probably no doubt the King.

Thinking, I got the letter and showed it to him.

"Um your Highness." I bowed down to do the necessary things when you see a King. "I heard you saying about a specific person. Princess Ruto?" I replied when I was allowed to do so.

He nodded. "Yes. Princess Ruto is my daughter as I am the King of Zoras. In a late afternoon, everything was fine until one of my messengers told me that my Princess was gone. We tried everything to search for her but none of us found her. I'm so worried about her…"

I thought about the situation for a moment until I spoke. "Perhaps this might help you?" I showed the letter and a twinkle of recognition came in his eyes.

"Ho, this letter! It's from Princess Ruto!" he exclaimed. "Hmm…let's see…She's inside Lord Jabu-Jabu? That's not possible!"

"Sorry but who's Lord Jabu-Jabu?" I asked, curiously.

"Our guardian god, Lord Jabu-Jabu, would never eat my dear Princess Ruto!" he replied, furiously.

_Unless something made it to do it._ I thought but pushed the thoughts away.

"But since that stranger, Ganondorf, came here, Lord Jabu-Jabu has been a little green around the gills…"

I clenched my fists with anger. Doesn't Ganondorf have something better else to do?! Like seriously, leave the people alone! This time however, I'll make sure that the guardian won't die…I will be sure that I will get there quickly in time…so the same fate wouldn't meet Jabu-Jabu just like how the fate had met with the Great Deku Tree. The horrible image of the Deku Tree dying still flashes into my mind as I shut my eyes tightly. I refuse to cry.

"The evidence seems clear. Of course, you'll go find Ruto. You can pass through here to the altar of Lord Jabu-Jabu." he told me, snapping me back to reality.

I nodded. "I will sir and I won't let you down. I will cleanse the evil that infected Lord Jabu-Jabu."

He nodded with approval. "I know you will. I have faith in you. I'll keep this letter. You keep the bottle it was in. Take it respectfully! Please find my dear Princess Ruto…immediately! Zora…"

Erm, I'm not a Zora but a Kokiri…I then went inside the entrance that was behind the King after I walked on a path to reach it.


	8. Princess Ruto and Nightmares

Chapter 7: Princess Ruto and Nightmares

When I reached the end, it was filled with nothing but water and cliffs and a small deck that looked like it was leading somewhere.

"Welcome, Link! I am the Great Fairy of Magic!" the fairy replied. I discovered that there was the Great Fairy Fountain in here as well. "I will give you a magic spell. Please take it." like before, she flew forward to have a green glowing orb and it went towards me. The orb was in a glass-cased with a swirling green wind.

She told me that this is Farore's Wind and is warp magic in which I can use to warp myself out when I'm in danger. I will teleport to the Warp Point and when I first use the magic, I will create a Warp Point. When I use the magic again, I can either dispel the Warp Point I created last time or warp to that point.

"Remember, you can use Farore's Wind only in dungeons that have a dungeon map hidden inside, ok?" and she told me to come see her if I needed to after a battle.

Gathering a fish, I went back to face a large animal that was in front of the deck. I opened the bottle to release the fish that went up and down. The mouth from Lord Jabu-Jabu opened to reveal a red tongue. However, I tried to steady myself as I felt the air from the mouth that came out of it as the fish went inside it.

Unfortunately, I let out a scream as the wind's breeze from the mouth wiped me away and into the mouth.

* * *

I groaned when I opened my eyes. At first, everything was hazy so I couldn't really see that great until it slowly got cleared. I let out a short gasp, scrambling backwards when I realized that I was inside of its mouth as I saw its sharp pointed many teeth.

The inside was red, having strange shaped walls and a door far ahead of me. When I got up, I slipped and fell back to the ground since the surface was slippery. Muttering as Navi laughed, I got back up again and this time I didn't slip.

Spotting the door, I went towards it until two enemies that resembled like a shrub popped out of the ground to release its nut. A strange bubble like object welcomed me by striking me. Hey, I was curious and that's what happened…

Erm…

After that, I looked up to see an odd switch which I hit with the Fairy Slingshot. The door got opened to reveal a semi-dark path. I shuddered when I entered through the door. It felt like it was a mouth that resembled a door.

Nevertheless, I resumed my trek by going in before going in to another mouth-like door entrance.

In a room, there appeared to be some sort of a green long thick string which of course belongs to Lord Jabu-Jabu. However, small bio-electric sea creatures with blue tentacles appeared to be guarding the green string.

"Link…is that Princess Ruto?" Navi whispered in my eye. I turned around to see a Zora though this one looks different. Instead of having a pale blue skin, the Zora had yellowish-whiteish skin with specks of green here and there.

"You! Who are you?!" she exclaimed, seeing me. I walked towards her.

"I'm Link and you are?"

"I am Ruto, Princess of the Zoras." she responded, slightly glaring at the strange boy that was in front of her.

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess."

"Quit with the formalities, why are you here?" she demanded.

"Your father told me to come here to save you." I replied plainly.

"What?!" she screeched. "I'd never ask anyone to do such a thing!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then what about the letter in a bottle."

"Letter in a Bottle?" she repeated, giving an odd look. "I have no idea what you're talking about! My father is worried about me, isn't he?"

I nodded while giving her a look as to why she was not speaking the truth about the letter in a bottle when after all, she wrote it. The letter had her name on it.

"I don't care!" she suddenly shouted. "Anyway, I can't go home right now. And you…Get out of here! Understand?!"

"Nope and don't care either. You're coming with me. Understood?"

"I take no orders from a commoner! I make the orders!" she shrieked. "Get your hand off me! I demand that you take your filthy hand off me!" she thrashed violently to be released from my grasp as I dragged her away from her spot.

However, she got way too violent so I had to securely grasp her waist with my hands to move. But, being the stubborn princess she is, she painfully kicked me into the ankle and seriously painfully kicked me in the stomach sending me to fall to the ground.

Moaning, I hastily scrambled back up only to see her running away until she released a sudden scream. My eyes widened when I saw her falling into a hole but it was too late for me by the time I reached the spot. She was already gone.

Sighing, I followed her example by jumping into the hole and saw her grumbling angrily as she got up, brushing away the "dust".

"Are you still hanging around here?!" she asked me, annoyed once she spotted me. "I told you to go away!"

"And I told you to come with me!" I remarked.

We found ourselves in a glaring contest.

Annoyed, she told me. "I'm ok. I've been going inside Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly since I was little, but…Lord Jabu-Jabu is very strange today…"

"Kind of like you?" I smiled, crookedly. "Ow!" I rubbed my shoulder since she had hit me there.

She glared at me. "Jerk! I seriously don't know why my father had brought someone so…impudent."

"I'm impudent?!" I asked incredulously. "What about you? I'm only here because your father told me to do so!"

She scoffed. "Well, _Link_, since you think you're so mighty and bold, I'm sure you can handle a couple of electrified jellyfish can't you? There are also strange holes around…On top of that, my precious stone was…but…that's none of your business! Anyway…You! Go home now! Understand?!" she ordered once again.

Sneering, I ignored her order and picked her up. If she wasn't moving then this was the only way to do so. She screamed and protested while demanding to put her down and also she threatened me that there will be an execution set up that is just for me.

Everybody wants to see me dead…thanks for the love.

Strange toxic-like bubbles filled the next hallway so I placed Ruto down to destroy the bubbles. The first few bubbles were destroyed but on the last one didn't went so well since the bubble made contact with me and while I was trying to not inhale the poisonous air that came out of the bubble.

When it came contact with me, I felt the stinging pain of toxic touching my skin. Hissing, I rubbed them but it only made it worse. Annoyed, Ruto muttered about me being stupid and told me to rest and to not to touch the poison. Reluctantly, I did so while Ruto also asked me if I had any water which I did.

She took it out of my pouch to pour some into her palm before pouring the water that was in her palm onto the wounded skin. I hissed at the sharp sting once the water touched it.

After a while, I was feeling a bit better to continue our journey. More of those bubbles came as well while two strange flying fish-like creatures came into the view. They had a blue color at the top of their bodies while the undersides are red. One of them flew into me and a sharp jolt of spark greeted my body as I tried to attack them.

I collapsed to the ground from the sudden pain to at least catch my breath and gather my strength. I really hate these enemies. Especially with fire creatures and the electricity ones…Eventually, I killed the electricity creatures.

I stepped on the switch to let the water rise up then went back on the ground to kill a Skulltula but the switch went back up, letting the water to be ankle-deep once again. So I went back to press the switch to have the water to rise up. I climbed the vine that was at a side of a wall but then went back down to let the water rise up even more so that I could actually climb on the ground without pressing the switch if it went back down.

I groaned when the water sank back down though I threw Ruto to the other side so I can press the water switch. I decided to kill the toxic bubbles before going in further with Ruto.

It felt really odd to have a dungeon that took place in the inside of a water-creature. I sometimes would slip on a slippery surface which caused Ruto to laugh but when I picked her up to jump on a rising platform, I slipped when I reached the platform and my fall also brought Ruto to go down as well.

Needless to say, she wasn't very happy about that.

We soon found our way back to where we had first met except this time, I avoided the hole by going around it and narrowly missed the jellyfish that came down to the ground from the ceiling.

I didn't feel like being electrocuted again, thanks.

We then went through another mouth-like door to enter the next chamber. Odd vine-like though it resembled kind of like a snake too slithered out of the ground upwards yet I ignored it by going around and turned to my left.

More of them came when we went further in.

"This switch…it doesn't look like you can press it down with your weight alone, Link…" Navi replied when I jumped on the switch. So I used both of our weight's (Ruto and mine) to open the door.

The surface began to move like waves though in a disturbing way as I sensed that there were enemies hidden in the floor. I placed Ruto down to attack the enemies. The fish-like electric creatures popped out of the ground so I quickly used my slingshot to kill them.

I defeated all the enemies in this room to reveal a treasure chest that came out of thin air. I went to the chest to obtain an item which was in shaped in an odd L. It looked like it was made out of wood but I wasn't really sure.

We got out of the room whereas I decided to try out the new item with the vine-like snake creatures. I chucked the item to hit it and then the item went back towards me. Huh. Sooner or later, we came into a chamber that had an enemy hanging down from the ceiling. It had red and thick.

I used the flying item to knock down but the vine rocked back, smacked me at the front of my body while I grunted when it smacked me. I smashed at the bouncy wall and in return, I bounced back to the floor.

"How inconsiderate! How could you leave me behind?! If you're a man, act like one! Take responsibility!" she snapped at me, furiously. I ignored her and went to pick her up.

"The red slimy thing is gone! That must be because you cut the red tail! Will that work with the other ones too?" Navi asked.

"It might." I replied.

"Who's that?" Ruto asked, slightly sneering while shielding herself from the bright light. Navi angrily flew in front of her, glowing brightly than before.

"I'm Navi, Link's fairy! Treat others with respect!" Navi spoke, heatedly.

I smirked, hearing Ruto huff.

The next room got us locked in which meant that something was in the room which were the toxic bubbles. Navi told me that she felt there was a time limit which quickly sent me to kill them all.

"That's it! That's what I've been looking for!" Ruto exclaimed, seeing the familiar blue stone in the middle of the platform. That must be Zora's Sapphire. "Throw me up there! Onto the platform!"

"That might be a bad idea." I told her. But, she protested.

"Just do it!" she replied with an annoyed look. Sighing, I threw her on the platform. I'm pretty sure I know what will happen. A monster will appear and then it will take Ruto. Once the monster mini boss is defeated, I will get an earful from Ruto, saying that it was all my fault and stuff like that.

Why is it always me? I'll never understand female…maybe it's better to _not _understand them…

"Oh my goodness! I finally found…My mother's stone…" she replied, making the stone to disappear in a safe place. "I got very upset when Lord Jabu-Jabu swallowed it…While I was feeding him, he suddenly swallowed me! I was so surprised I dropped it inside."

"And then you got swallowed." I muttered.

"But, now that I've found it. I don't need to be in here anymore!" she continued as if she didn't hear my muttering…I think. "So, take me home, right now!" she demanded.

I snorted. "You have legs. You can walk yourself, your _Highness_!"

Growling with irritation, she started to walk towards me but suddenly, Ruto gave out a squeak as I saw the platform rising into the air and into a hole that was up in the ceiling. It looked like a perfect hole that was meant to fit in.

"Keeeyaaaah! What is this? An octopus!?" she shrieked.

"I told her so. Drop me to the platform, she says. Ignore my caution, she said." I muttered.

I tried to balance myself as a tremor shook. The once platform then dropped down to the ground to reveal an oversized version of a water-dwelling Octorok.

I sighed. "Get ready for an earful, Link." before staring at the hideous creature. Navi suggested to try to hit with the new item I had got. Going with that, I chucked the Boomerang, stunning it. I walked backwards to give myself a good distance before the beast was able to slither towards me.

And then, the beast changed its route by going the other way so I had to chase it. Brilliant until I decided to change my route which was to go to the opposite way. When the monster faced me, I stunned it with the item.

This time, when I stunned, it turned around to reveal its weak point. So I chucked the Boomerang to hit it. The beast deflated, indicating that it was defeated.

The platform sunk into the ground and when I stepped on it, it rose high into the air. I was suddenly worried of where Ruto was. I defeated the two electric jellyfish that were in the way of the hallway.

When I arrived at a new room, bizarre organic-looking red monsters popped out of the ground. It looked like in a shape of a cube.

It turned blue when it got stunned from the Boomerang though of course, I wasn't aware of the time limit of the strange cube so in result, I got thrown back into the ground landing on it with a very hard THUD. Muttering, I stunned them again so it could be used as platforms.

When I reached the second stunned cube, I barely grabbed the edge of it as I felt something hard knocking me to the side of my body and I fell to the bottom of the below level ground. I rubbed my side, feeling it bruised then went back up to the higher point to stun the red cubes again.

I finally got out of that cursed room and into the next area. I jumped on the next platform of this room and it lowered itself down. I then went into another part of the Jabu-Jabu's belly where it was filled with jellyfish.

Lovely.

All of them started to assault me and I was lucky to avoid all of them until I got close to one of them because they started to be way too crowded. The one that was closer to me released its electricity, touching my body but the others saw this so another one shot me with its electric.

I screamed, a horrible one, feeling the excruciating pain of the electricity that coursed throughout my body from the three jellyfishes. The third one joined later on.

Finally, the electricity stopped causing Navi to be worried as I fell down to the ground, my energy being completely drained. My body already has many markings from the jellyfish such as one being at my back (nearly in the middle), the other marking was on my right forearm and the other one was at my side.

"Link…are you okay?" Navi whispered, worriedly as she saw the jellyfishes coming at me again, each of them releasing its electricity to warn its prey to back off.

"Mmm…" came my reply. I blinked, trying to make my vision to be better. It kind of was better but it was still hazy. The jellyfishes were finally destroyed although at least two of them zapped me brutally before they died.

Out of energy, I fell completely to the ground.

"Link!" Navi screeched, concerned for her fallen friend. "Link! Get up! Please you have to get up!" she begged, flying closer to my face.

"I ca-can't…I wan…I want…"

"LINK!" Navi shrieked, seeing me unmoving.

* * *

One blink.

Two blink.

I flinched from the odd nearly "bright light" that emitted around the room.

"Link…" my eyes searched for the voice until it fell on the small orb of blue light.

"Na…Navi…" my voice was hoarse as if it wasn't my own.

"Thank the goddesses!" she let out a sigh of relief. "I was scared! You trailed off and then you just lost it! I didn't know what to do!" she wept, covering her face with her tiny hands. "I feel so useless!"

"Hey now…" I responded softly. "I don't think you are. Without you, I wouldn't make it this far. I think you're the greatest fairy I ever had."

"You didn't have one the moment you came into the Kokiri Forest, dimwit." she mumbled, earning a crooked smile from me.

My strength came back to me after quite a while and we resumed to finish this dungeon and to find Ruto…wherever she is.

Pretty soon, we found the boss door. I stared at the menacing jellyfish that sparked with its yellow electricity, and there were many before me. I suddenly started to fear them…

It seemed to be connected to do something as they lowered down, being connecting to it and then they got attached. It had what appeared to be tentacles at the top but overall it looked hideous and gross.

The many tubes that were attached to the top looked like its attacks could come out of it. Sometimes, it would sprout out yellow electricity so I dodged them, not wanting to be zapped again. I looked at the tentacles that were attached to the ceiling so I thought about and decided to use my Boomerang. The four tentacles went berserk, sending out many electricity here and there while I tried to avoid all of them.

I noticed that the huge jellyfishes spun around in haywire which made it to be hard for me to avoid all of them as they would sometimes come narrowly close to me.

"Link, that's its weak point! Attack it!" Navi motioned to the bare main body of the enemy. I used my boomerang to attack it, seeing it blue whenever it got hit from the new item.

Hitting with the Deku Stick also made it easier for me before I did a backflip when it spun around, summoning the jellyfishes to be attached to it but the jellyfishes weren't attached to the body. They were just swinging around like the main enemy was.

I finally stunned the hideous creature on my fourth try though my lack of timing sucked when I struck one of the jellyfishes. It sprouted out electricity and I felt the familiar zap running throughout my body. My face was twisted with pain, silently pleading for the current to stop.

As if it got answered, it stopped, sending me to the ground. Slowly gathering up my strength, I went to hit the rest of the jellyfishes; this time being careful. But, just as I was about to hit the third jellyfish, it came back again, spinning around until one of the jellyfishes got struck.

When I struck the main unprotected body with the sword, it sunk down to the ground, showing only its "head". Occasionally, it would send electricity from its two tubes which I thankfully dodged it.

The process and with a final hit with my sword, the parasite was defeated. It disgustingly started to bloat around its body until it exploded in a grotesque way. It's slimy blood went everywhere and that includes hitting me making me to shriek with disgust.

"Ew!" I shrieked, feeling its revolting green blood hitting me.

"Hey Link…" Navi pointed to the blue light so I squinted my eyes only to groan. There, waiting in the blue light was…

"Ruto…" I mumbled, sighing as I walked up to her.

"Ew!" she shrieked at the sight of me. "What's that slimy thing on your face and on your body!?"

I smirked. "Blood."

"EW! GET AWAY FROM ME! You're so dirty and EW!" she screeched with disgust but she then glared hatefully at me. "You're useless! What took you so long?! Have you had any idea just how disgusted I was?! How dare you keep me waiting! And it was all your fault that I got eaten by that…MONSTER! How dare you let a Princess get eaten from a monster!"

Rolling my eyes, I zoned out since I didn't want to hear her awful shrieks. We floated upwards, feeling ourselves being teleported and while hearing Ruto's shrieks.

All of a sudden, everything went eerily quiet making me to be suspicious. Had something ate Ruto again? Rolling my eyes, I suddenly gave out a scream falling backwards and into the water.

I was suddenly scared for myself as I watched Ruto seductively going towards me as she splashed into the water.

"R-Ruto?" I squeaked.

"You! You looked cool…cooler than I thought you would, anyway…Just a little!" she giggled. "Well, anyway, you saved me, so I guess I'll reward you. What do you wish? Just tell me…"

I cautiously stared at before telling. "Um…I kinda need the Spiritual Stone…"

"You mean the Spiritual Stone of Water, Zora's Sapphire, don't you?"

I nodded.

"My mother gave it to me and said I should give it only to the man who will be my husband. You might call it the Zora's Engagement Ring."

"What!?" I screeched, making Navi to cover her ears.

She giggled. "Alright! I'll give you my most precious possession: Zora's Sapphire!"

She went to swim on her back, giving us a good distance before the blue ball of light appeared above her. It then floated towards me as I delicately held it.

Her last words were: "Don't tell my father."

_The weather was a stormy one. Lightning would occasionally flash every now and then. It slowly made its way to reveal the front of the castle and the light got darkened when it showed the entrance to the castle. Rain poured down when darkness fell and on the third lightning, the drawbridge creaked open, falling down to reveal the entrance._

_Navi hovered above me while I stared at the opening. A noise was heard; it was faint but when it got closer I realized that it was a horse so I moved out of the way when it marched out of the castle, running away._

_I could slightly see the two figures though the figure in the bright clothes I was able to see. With a gasp, she turned around to throw something into the air. It splashed into the puddle but I felt someone else was here so I turned around and gasped at the sight._

_It was Ganondorf, dressed with black armor and horrible evil was emitting out of him causing me to shudder at the sight. I stood there, frozen as I stared into his red eyes that were full of malice._

"_Arrrrgh! I lost her!" he snarled with irritation, staring out into the distance of which the girl escaped._

_He then turned to my direction._

"_You, over there! Little Kid!" I didn't know what to do since I was frozen with fear when he mentioned me. "You must have seen the white horse gallop past just now…Which way did it go?! Answer me!" he commanded but I didn't answer him as I got out of my frozen state to stare at him hatefully._

"_I won't." I replied before backing away from the enemy. _

"_So, you think you can protect them from me…You've got guts, kid." he replied, darkly. _

_Staring at him angrily, I withdrew my sword hoping to kill him._

_He laughed with amusement at the scene being displayed. "Heh heh heh…You want a piece of me?! Very funny! I like your attitude!" he then raised his hand to produce a yellowish-whitish orb of energy. Before I could defend myself, he threw at me. The ball raced towards me like the speed of light so all I did was I raised my hands in front of me but it didn't work since I got blasted back, skidding on the ground._

"_Pathetic little fool! Do you realize who you are dealing with?!"_

_I sneered. "Do you realize who you _are _dealing with as well?"_

"_You're just a pathetic child. I am Ganondorf! And soon, I will rule the world!" he replied, wickedly. With a neigh from the black horse, he rode away into the distance. Rain died down, introducing the light._

_I got up, watching the figure of Ganondorf fading away. I looked at the horizon beyond with a determined look._

_He is going down._

"_Wake up, Link." the voice replied. "Wake up."_

"Wake up, LINK!"

I woke up with a gasp.


	9. Frozen in Time

Chapter 8: Frozen in Time

"Navi, what!?" I asked with a gasp, failing my arms around as if I was trying to catch something in the air.

"You sure you're okay? You kinda passed out…" Navi replied. "You kept on mumbling so I figured that you were having a nightmare." she concluded.

I sighed. "I was. It's the same dream I kept on having. Ganondorf was in there too as well as Zelda…I don't know what it means. It kept on having the same white horse with Zelda and another figure behind her. She threw something in the water as they escaped the castle but Ganondorf came a few seconds later after the white horse that carried Zelda and the person disappeared into the sight. This time, he asked me where they went but I didn't tell him so he attacked me with his magic powers…he talked about how he was going to rule the world and then he left…" I trailed off. "I wish Deku Tree was still here. He would've been able to help me."

It was silent before Navi spoke. "Why didn't you tell him?"

I stared at the green grass, being deep in thought. "Because…I was probably afraid of the outcome would be so I kept it to myself. And with the things he had going on, I doubt he had even had the time to listen to me."

"Link," Navi placed her tiny hand on my cheek. "He always would have the time for you even if he was busy."

I stared at the blue orb of light before giving a faint smile.

Curiously though, after the little talk we had, I found myself in front of the entrance of the Market. I was confused on how I had gotten here but shrugged it off as I went to cross the bridge to enter the Market. I didn't really need a disguise. It seemed that things had been quieted down so not needing a disguise isn't necessary, right?

"Unnngh…are you the boy from the forest…?" a guy asked me when I walked to the back alley.

"Yeah…" I responded puzzled.

"I-I-I've finally met you…I-I-I have something to t-t-tell you…" he seemed to be gasping for some air. "Ganondorf, the Gerudo of King of Thieves, betrayed our King…"

I clenched my fists tightly, turning my knuckles to white. I knew that would happen. Why didn't the King believed me?

"What happened to the Princess?" I asked, suddenly feeling odd as I had "seen" this somewhere.

"Zelda's nanny, Impa, sensed danger and escaped from the castle with our Princess…I tried to stop Ganondorf's men from chasing them…but…The Princess was…waiting for a boy from the forest…that's you…She wanted to give something to the boy…"

My head was swarming with the information he gave me. Why would Zelda, in a time like that, would want to wait for me when she was being attacked? This was frighteningly scary as I had realized where I had "seen" this. It was from the dream…

_The white horse that carried two people ran out of the castle as if it got escaped. I moved out of the way as to not be run over by the horse…_

"If you received it from the Princess, hurry…to the Temple of Time…" he gasped, making my eyes to widen as the life from him faded away.

"Sir! Sir!" I shook him to wake him up but it was no use. Glancing at the way he held his stomach with his hands, I took his hands away from the stomach only to gasp. The stomach had a very deep cut that slashed across, making the blood to freely flow down.

"He's not moving anymore…" Navi pointed it out.

I nodded mutely as to respond to it before pointing to the wound. Navi gasped softly, understanding.

"I bet you anything one of Ganondorf's men did it." I replied through my gritted teeth.

"Come on, Link. We must get to the Temple of Time…"

Oddly enough, when I got out of the castle, I squinted my eyes at the water as I had thought I had seen something dimly glowing. Curiously, I went towards the stream and dove into the water. I then grabbed the object and swam back up.

Puzzled, I looked at the strange blue object that nearly looked similar to my Ocarina except it was different.

"Navi, what's this?" I asked. Navi sleepily rubbed her eyes as she flew out of my hat but gasped.

"That's the Ocarina of Time!" Navi cried out. "But…Link! Did you say that in your dream that Zelda threw something in the water?" she suddenly asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Yeah I did…" I then widened my eyes as I realized what Navi was trying to say. "You mean to tell me that you think this belonged to her?"

She nodded. "But why would she chuck it?"

"Maybe she's trying to hide it from something." I suggested.

"Or from some_one_." Navi added.

Silence settled. The nightmare still freaked me out about just how scary the nightmare is real.

"We have to get to the Temple of Time. I might have a hunch of where it is."

As I got out of the water, I suddenly lost my consciousness.

"_Link…can you hear me? It's me, Zelda…" _the faint voice whispered in my mind.

"_Zel…da…?" I asked._

"_Oh good." the scene morphed into a new place that looked like a temple since it had marble stones and a stand while a person was facing the stand._

"_Link, when you hold this Ocarina in your hand…I won't be around anymore…"_

"_What!? Why?"_

_She seemed to be praying but then she twirled around as if to face me as I was actually there. _

"_I wanted to wait for you, but I couldn't delay any longer…At least, I could leave you the Ocarina and this melody…" she put the Ocarina at her lips to release the tune. I copied her actions by following the melody. _

_It was the Song of Time._

"_Now, Link. Play this melody in front of the altar in the Temple of Time. You must protect the Triforce!"_

"Link!" Navi exclaimed, hovering above me. Moaning, I finally came back to the "living", opening my eyes yet again. "Must you always pass out? What happened?!"

"Zelda…" I mumbled.

"What?" Navi asked, being taken back.

"Zelda." I repeated. "I saw her or rather I saw her in the weird dream-state. She told me that she won't be around anymore and she could leave the Ocarina to me. I figured that was why she dropped it into the water. I wondered if she purposely did it…She taught me a song called the Song of Time and to play it at the altar when I reach the Temple of Time. I must also protect the Triforce." I responded.

"I see…" Navi replied. "At least you have an actual reason to pass out…" she smirked.

* * *

"Wow. What do you know? You actually got the directions right." I replied, surprised when we arrived at an old brown building that looked like a Church.

Navi grumbled angrily while sneering at me. "I don't lack that _much _of directions!"

I smirked as I entered in the building. I gaped at the building that had black and white tiles at the side while in the middle of the path were marble stones that led to a stand. The whole inside seemed to be made out of rich white stones though there were some parts that looked old.

A strange door that looked like a piece of a wall was attached to it with intricate designs on it. I walked towards the altar and thought about what Zelda said so I took out the Ocarina to play the Song of Time.

The three Spiritual Stones came out of me, twirling above me until they were in a line. They then descended down to the altar, barely touching it but it allowed the Triforce that was on the wall to glow so brightly that I shielded myself from the light as it got expanded.

The door split in two to open the entrance. I took a breath, not knowing what lay ahead before going to the entrance.

Navi gasped when we entered the semi-dark room.

"What?" I asked, odd by her sudden reaction.

"Link, isn't that…?!" she faltered staring at the object that was ahead of us. I looked to the object to have my eyes widened.

Navi excitedly flew towards the object and shouted when she reached it.

"It's that legendary blade…The Master Sword!"

My mouth fell open, not believing that I was actually seeing it in _person_. I mean: how many people can do that?!

I ran towards the sword to examine. Its silver blade shone dimly against the light while the purple cross guards stood out as a hilt was on the top of the sword. A yellow jewel was adorned in the middle of the purple cross guards.

Staring at it while my eyes beat wildly, Navi nudged me to take the sword out of the pedestal. I took a breath and my eyes widened as I felt the sword out of the pedestal. A blue column of light suddenly showed itself, going upwards as if it was covering me. The triforce on the stand glowed…

A weird feeling ran through my body. It felt like I was being suspended in Time itself…it felt like I couldn't move at all…like…like…I was….

Frozen.

What is happening?

"Geh heh heh! Excellent work!" the voice cackled. "As I thought, you held the keys to the Door of Time! You have led me to the gates of the Sacred Realm…Yes, I owe it all to you, kid!" he released an evil laugh as the screen faded away into blackness…


	10. Seven years later

**SEVEN YEARS LATER… **


	11. Hero Awakened

**Shoutout: **Thanks to aesuuard for following the story and also thanks to cry in the darkness for following the story

Chapter 9: Hero Awakened

"Wake up…Link, the chosen one…" the scene morphed into an eerie environment as it had different shades of blue. It was a vast endless chamber with a glowing blue platform floating in the middle of the chamber. On the platform were smaller platforms decorated with symbols. There was a man that looked like a monk that wore a red robe that covered from toe to neck. His elderly eyes seemed to be staring at something; he had no hair except for a white beard.

"I am Rauru, one of the ancient Sages…Ages ago, we ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm…This is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light… The Temple of Light, situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm, is the last stronghold against Ganondorf's evil forces. The Master Sword—the evil-destroying sword that you pulled out of the Pedestal of Time—was the final key to the Sacred Realm."

When a person first met this strange person, they would most likely have an unsure look on their features of whether to be scared from him as his expression was such a fierce one, it looked like he was glaring.

"Link…Don't be alarmed…Look at yourself!"

Navi gaped at the young man. "Link…what happened?" she asked, gaping at me.

"What do you…" I trailed off only to find myself that I wasn't short. I was…tall… and well more handsome. The shield was no longer "scraping" the floor as it reached at the end of my back. The brown gloves adorned my hands as a white shirt under the green tunic was beneath it.

I stared at myself with a disbelieving look.

What happened?

As though this strange person read my mind, he answered it. "Look Link! You're big now! You've grown up!" he stated.

There was something about the figure that made me to stare at him even more. I just don't know what it is…

"The Master Sword is a sacred blade which evil ones may never touch…Only one worthy of the title of "Hero of Time" can pull it from the Pedestal of Time…However, you were too young to be the Hero of Time…Therefore, your spirit was sealed here for seven years…"

I drew in a sharp breath at the new information.

Seven years…? Seven _long _years! But…If I got sealed in here, what happened to Hyrule?

I don't believe it! Sealed! But…

I shut my eyes tight, curling my hands into fists. In other words, I fell _"asleep"_ for seven goddesses' damn years!

"And now that you are old enough, the time has come for you to awaken as the Hero of Time! Well, do you understand your destiny?"

With my eyes shut tight, I nodded.

"But, remember…Though you opened the Door of Time in the name of peace…Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves used it to enter this forbidden Sacred Realm! He obtained the Triforce from the Temple of Light, and with its power, he became the King of Evil… His evil power radiated from the temples of Hyrule, and in seven short years, it transformed Hyrule into a world of monsters."

I lost it.

I felt the tears that threatened to fall had now fallen. It's all my fault…my fault…That's not true…world of monsters…

"My power now has only little influence, even in this Sacred Realm…Namely, this Chamber of Sages. But there is still hope…"

My eyes flew open at the word hope. Tears were still flowing down.

"T-there is…?" my voice cracked after not using it in a long time.

He nodded slightly. "The power of the Sages remains. When the power of the Sages is awakened…The Sages Seals will contain all the evil power in the void of the Realm…I, Rauru, am one of the Sages…And…Your power to fight together with the Sages makes you the Hero of Time!"

I bowed my head down. I'm not sure if I could call myself the _hero_…

"The Hero of Time, chosen by the Master Sword!"

But the proof was right there.

"Keep my spirit with you…And, find the power of the other Sages and add their might to your own!" with a raise of his hands something came down, floating above my own hands since I raised them.

It was a golden disk with a symbol in the middle. All of a sudden, something pulled me out of the Chamber of Sages as a voice replied.

"Find the other Sages and save Hyrule!"

I gasped as I was hurled in the blue column of Time. I felt like I wanted to throw up but at the last minute, I found myself back in the Temple of Time, standing on a stand.

"Link…we're back in the Temple of Time…But have seven years really passed?"

I mournfully stared at the ground, not wanting to hear any more of this. I only gave a nod.

I had to accept it. If I can't, then who will?

"It looks like you won't be able to use some of the weapons you found as a kid anymore…"

I gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah…it looks like it…" even my voice scared me as I was not used to it being so deep.

Navi gave me a sympathy look before she spoke her last words. "Let's get out of here…"

"I'm not sure if I want to. I don't even want to know how the outside looks like the minute we get out of here." I shut my eyes tight again, tightening my fists. "It's all my fault. I can't help it but to blame it on me! None of this would have happened if I hadn't pulled the Master Sword!" I unsheathed the Master Sword, gazing at the silver blade that dimly glowed in the dim light. My reflection stared back at me.

Angrily, I threw the sword to the opposite side to hear it clatter against the marble stones. I fell down to my knees with my arms wrapped around my torso and cried, letting my bangs to cover my face so that only tears could be seen. Navi quietly disappeared so I could have some privacy.

I couldn't help it but to cry endlessly. I was a failure and to people's eyes, I was probably a failure too. Everybody was looking up at the Hero…to protect them from the greatest evil that had ever been born. Truth be told, I was…scared of what they will think of the Hero now. Questions would probably be asked such as what happened to the Hero of Time? Why had he left?

Hero…it was hard for me to accept it…Hero isn't a tittle in which everyone could carry it. It could only be carried if the person had done something extremely good or big. My simple normal life had suddenly got changed into a not so simple anymore…the events turned upside down ever since I left the Kokiri Forest.

How do they know? Tell me! How do they know it's me? It could be anyone! The gleam from the blade made me to stare at it. All the answers in which I want…all of them lied in that Sword…No one's dumb enough to know who the Hero is.

The Sacred blade could only be pulled by a Hero. Not just any Hero…

"The Hero of Time." I whispered.

Getting up, I slowly walked towards the fallen sword to pick it up. Once I did, I was surprise to see that there weren't any scratches. None at all. Gazing at my reflection once more, I placed it back in its proper place and then I turned to face the exit.

I was ready.

This time, I won't fail anybody.

However, just as I started to pull the door something made me to stop.

"Link, what—"

"Shh." I replied quietly. There was something in this room that didn't felt right…

I turned around to see a figure that was somewhat covered in the shadows and I immediately took my sword out.

But, the person didn't look like it wanted to attack me.

"I've been waiting for you, Hero of Time…When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call those destined to be Sages, who dwell in the five Temples. One in a deep forest…One in a high mountain…One under a vast lake…One within the house of the dead…One inside a goddess of the sand…Together with the Hero of Time, the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace in the world…This is the legend of the temples passed down by my people, the Sheikah."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Never had I have heard about those people, the Sheikah.

"I am Sheik. Survivor of the Sheikahs…" the figure introduced.

"You already know who I am." I replied, bitterly.

"As I see you standing there holding the mythical Master Sword, you really do look like the legendary Hero of Time…"

I scoffed quietly. "More like the Hero of Failure."

The odd figure stared at me for a while. "While I do see you struggling to accept that you are the Hero of Time, in my eyes, you are not a failure."

I started to protest but he raised his hand to silence me.

"Please hear me out. If you believe the legend, you have no choice. You must look for the five temples and awaken the five Sages…One Sage is waiting for the time of awakening in the Forest Temple. The Sage is a girl I am sure you know…Because of the evil power in the temple, she cannot hear the awakening call from the Sacred Realm. Unfortunately, equipped as you currently are, you cannot even enter the temple…"

"Then what do I need to do?"

"But, if you believe what I'm saying, you should head to Kakariko Village…Do you understand, Link?"

I nodded slowly.

"Good. To save the forest girl, you need another skill…Head to Kakariko Village!"

When I went to the door to exit the Temple, Sheik called out.

"It's not your fault."

The outside was such a horrible mess. I automatically wished I hadn't left the temple. I felt safe in there…Instead of a blue sky, it was now filled with horrible darkness that made me to glare at it hatefully. A swirling pink cloud seemed to be circling something out in the distance.

It didn't feel welcoming at all. The moment I entered the Market, it was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful. There was no sound of the happy people. There was no music at all. It was as if life was completely drained out of it. The Temple ominously loomed, looking abandoned.

What had I done?

I covered my ears from the horrible piercing screams of the redeads that reemerged from the ground. I tripped on a loose ground, scraping my knee. Heh. Guess I kinda forgot how to walk after being frozen in time for the past seven years.

Those cursed seven years.

Everything in the Market looked like it hadn't been used in years. Well, isn't that ironic? It looked completely abandoned. Some of the buildings were burned whereas the other buildings were ruined as pieces of woods barely held together.

I gasped at the object in which I had tripped over. It was a corpse…a corpse from a human body. Gasping, I quickly scrambled up and ran out of the Market, not wanting to linger in there anymore.

However, unbeknownst to me, something was watching me…

I was just happy to see the daylight that came onto the Hyrule Field as I trekked down the path.

At least, I get to see Saria.

But before I could actually go to the Forest, I went to Lon Lon Ranch.

I need a horse.

"There are some people in Kakariko spreading rumors that I cheated Talon out of the ranch, but…Don't be ridiculous!" the man exclaimed when I saw him in front of the gates that had a few horses in the field. "That guy Talon was weak! I, the hard-working Ingo, poured so much energy into this place! I don't want any strangers like you saving anything bad about me. Listen. The great Ganondorf recognized my obvious talents and gave the ranch to me!" he exclaimed.

My body started to shake with rage at the name of the evil King.

"Hey, you okay there buddy?" he asked, curiously seeing me suddenly oddly.

"Yeah I'm fine." I replied through my gritted teeth. "Just listen to _me_. Never, _never_ listen or trust the evil Ganondorf. He's up to no good. Do you understand? These are dark times so I need to know that you trust and understood me."

"I don't know why you're all—"

"Do you _understand_?" I repeated more fiercely.

He stared at me oddly til he nodded. "Yes…"

"Good."

"But I don't understand. Why? Why did you ask me such a peculiar question?"

"One day, you will know."

"By the way, do you want to ride one of my fine horses?" he asked.

I grinned. "Sure."

"Alright, m'boy! All it cost 10 Rupees to ride one! Do you know how to?"

I nodded.

"Thank you so much!" he exclaimed, taking the money I had given him. "Heh heh!"

I played Epona's song since I loved that horse even though I never had made a connection to her. I patted her soft mane, whispering her words.

Epona snorted softly at the words while flickering her ears when I said I was going to ride her.

Even Epona seemed to be grown up…

I then placed my foot on the foot holder of the saddle before settling myself on the saddle. Just as I was about to sit on the saddle, Epona reared up and I didn't have the time to grab the reins so I would fall. I fell off Epona hard on the ground on my butt.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, flailing my arms around before falling on the ground on my butt.

The horse trotted away and it looked like she was snickering… Frowning, I jogged towards her but she moved out of the way, her muzzle high in the air as if she was some kind of a spoiled princess. I snorted, taking out my Ocarina to play the song of Epona once again. Reluctantly, she trotted towards me as I smirked.

I laughed, feeling the wind's breeze hitting my face as Epona went full speed. I turned her gently so that we could practice fence jumping while I grinned like a kid. It felt like I was free…and it seemed that all my worries are washed away.

"You're getting better! How about a little race with me? One lap around the corral with that horse."

I grinned, petting the mane from Epona. "Sure."

"Let's make a little wager, say fifty Rupees?"

I nodded, paying the man. "Let's."

He laughed, a good-hearted one. "Kid, I like you."

Sooner or later, both of us met each other at the starting line. With a yell from the man, we began. At first, the man was ahead of me but I gently kicked Epona in the ribs so we could ride faster. It was as if Epona understood me…She suddenly went faster than I had originally was, making everything a blur including the man who was surprised that I had caught up with him so easily.

Goddesses, I love this horse.

However, the man didn't want to lose so he pushed his horse faster, catching up to me in no time. The two horses snorted at each other when they looked at each other as their eyes darted to the finish line that appeared into the view not a moment too soon.

I let out a whoop of excitement as Epona left the horse in her dust since she was ahead of them and then she ran towards the finish line before the other horse could win. Just an inch and the other horse would've won but Epona didn't let that happen.

"Sh-shoooot!" the man exclaimed once we got off the horses to meet up at the front gate. "If the great Ganondorf found out about this humiliation…Hey, you! How about another race! If you win…You can keep…the horse!"

My eyes lit up with excitement when I heard that.

"Really?!"

He glared at me, making me to shrink back. I'm guessing he's serious…

This time, we actually did the second race though the man played a bit dirty…When we were close he rammed himself against me so I fell off the horse though I grabbed the reins, not completely falling off the horse. My feet were only running on the ground as Epona sped up.

So, maybe I did completely fell off the horse…

I then got back up, still being in the first place.

"What's up with that horse?!" he freaked out, screaming with frustration. "Is that Epona?"

"Yeah…" I replied, unsure if I should actually answer that question…I had beaten him once again.

"How did you tame that wild horse right under my nose?!"

"She's not wild. Just misunderstood or stuff." I mumbled.

"I was going to present that horse to the great Ganondorf (I narrowed my eyes when he said that)…But I bet it on the race and lost! Shooot! Hah ah ha! As I promised, I'll give the horse to you…However…I'll never let you leave this ranch!"

"And why not?" I demanded.

He didn't answer me since he closed the gate of the ranch. Just great. I thought I saw somewhere where Epona could probably jump over which was why we went towards the fence that turned out to be a cliff. Epona gracefully landed on the field of Hyrule, galloping away from the ranch and onto a path.

She stopped, neighing at her accomplishment.

"Good girl. You deserve apples. I will be right back." I replied, petting her mane. She stomped her hooves on the ground gently as she watched me running to the village I knew.

Kakariko Village.

I got saddened at the village though. But, at least this one didn't look completely bad…yet, it still held the stormy weather and I could see the pink swirling cloud ahead as I suddenly realized that's probably Death Mountain.

It's amazing how much could happen in seven years.

"I bred a new type of miniature Cucco!" the girl exclaimed, excitedly. "I call it the Pocket Cucco! I don't get goose bumps from this baby. Cuccos are very good at getting lazy, late-risers out of bed. Haven't you heard of them before?"

"No." I replied with a hint of sadness in my tone.

"It makes them very happy to crow: CUCCKOOOOO!" I jumped from my trail of thoughts at the noise she made. I'm awake…I think…"Especially when it wakes up a very heavy sleeper! However, my Cucco is not entirely happy right now…You…You look like you're good at handling Cuccos. Here, take this egg. After the Cucco hatches, bring it back to me after a while, and I'll check its mood. What do you think? Will you try?"

I nodded, still deep in my trail of thoughts. She handed me a silver egg that contained the Pocket Cucco.

"I'll never forget what happened on that day, seven years ago!"

I froze when he growled angrily.

"It's all that Ocarina kid's fault! Next time he comes around here, I'm gonna mess him up!"

I could help it but maybe this guy could help me…even if he is blaming on me which I couldn't disagree with him…I pulled out the Ocarina, making the man to widened his eyes.

"What?! You've got an ocarina! What the heck?! That reminds me of that time, seven years ago! Back then a mean kid came here and played a strange song. It messed up this windmill! It went something like this…" he hummed the tune which I followed it.

I placed the Ocarina away, looking at the floor as I realized what song that was. It was the Song of Storms. Rain gently poured in the room as the man still stared at me.

"Hey, you okay kid? You look a little down." he noticed.

"Huh?" I snapped myself back to reality. "Yeah…I'm fine…"

I walked towards the door to exit out of the building but the man stopped me before I could get out. He was still in the same spot though he spoke.

"By the way…what had happened to that Ocarina kid seven years ago? Where was he all those seven years ago?"

My grip tightened on the doorknob. I was afraid he would ask that question. "He got frozen in those seven years. Then, got awakened." I replied, leaving him to stare at me with a befuddled look on his face.

He probably was confused what I meant by frozen…

"Link, you gotta stop blaming yourself!" Navi replied, exasperated once we exited out of the building.

I turned around sharply; anger was featured on my face. "I can't help it _but _to blame it on myself! Even that man blames it on that 'Ocarina kid'! When I say it's my fault, I say _it's my fault!_"

"You're being stubborn! If you keep on blaming yourself, who will have faith in you?" she asked, automatically silencing me.


	12. A best friend never leaves your side

Author's Note: Sorry for not updating. Something went wrong with Fanfiction so whenever I tried to do upload a chapter on this story, the link to it would say 'error' and stuff. But I just uploaded a chapter a few secs ago so yay! It got back to work!

**Shoutout: **Thanks to LoZNerd4Life for favoring and following the story

Chapter 10: A best friend never leaves your side

"Heh heh heh, young man! Are you fast on your feet? I may not look like it, but I'm confident in my speed! Let's have a race! Follow me if you dare!" the spirit-like figure told me.

I had accidentally fallen into a hole from the tomb. Someone probably didn't push it securely that great. Navi wasn't speaking to me. She just told me that if I stopped blaming myself, then she would forgive me and all that stuff. Of course, I'm stubborn so who knows when I will apologize…

Occasionally, I had to avoid the fireballs in which the spirit would throw. Cheater. I was catching up to him pretty quickly. Was he leading me somewhere? I couldn't help it but to think that he was…

When we reached the spot, I dove to reach the spot before he could then did a somersault after that.

"Nice dive, kid but the time of this race was 1:07! Hehehe, young man…You were very quick to be able to keep up with me! Hehehe! As a reward, I'm going to give you my treasure. It's called a Hookshot. Its spring-loaded chain will pull you to any spot where its hook sticks. Doesn't that sound cool? I'm sure it will help you! I live here now, so come back again sometime. I'll give you something cool! One more thing! Be careful on your way back! Heheheh…" he warned me.

Why…?

He vanished as a chest appeared out of thin air. I opened the chest to obtain the object. The Hookshot has a handle with a spring-loaded chain like he said while a hook appeared on the end.

I got out of the stone and decided to visit the Cucco girl.

"Look! A chicken hatched from the egg you were incubating! It's the miracle of life!"

I remembered about Malon's father and how he always sleeps. So, going to his house in Kakariko Village, I found him snoozing on the bed.

The Cucco gave a call, jolting the man awake.

"Can't a person get a shut-eye around here?!"

I chuckled, lightly. "Sorry."

The man looked at me before replying. "Did you save Malon? (I nodded…was I supposed to do that?) Thanks! I'm goin' back to the ranch, then! Yeehah!"

I then went to the Cucco girl again and she told me to make her Cucco happy which in return, I took out the Cucco.

"Oh, your Cucco looks pretty happy!" she exclaimed, happily. "He must have awakened an extremely lazy guy! You're a good Cucco Keeper! I'll give you a rare, valuable Cucco, if you're interested…Its name is Cojiro, and it used to be my brother's Cucco. Its blue body is quite charming. It's so cute! Since my brother has gone, it's strange, but Cojiro has stopped crowing." she replied sadly. "Do you want to keep Cojiro?"

I nodded and she gave it to me. "Thanks but do you mind if I keep it in the den? I'll look after it as well."

She smiled. "Of course I don't mind. Thanks…"

I gave her a faint smile before exiting out of Kakariko and called Epona since she seemed to have wandered off. We galloped across the field to reach the dark unwelcoming castle. I ignored the bad vibes that it came from the castle and switched my route to go to Lake Hylia. By the time we arrived at Lake Hylia, the sunset already came.

"Hey! Aren't you the fairy buddy I met a long time ago? Wow, you grew, dude!"

"Yeah, I am." I said, flatly. The scarecrow gave me a peculiar look.

"Well, here's your song…" he trailed off. "What? No, I never forget! You. You're the one who forgot…aren't you? If you have an Ocarina, play that song!"

I got the Ocarina out and he exclaimed the obvious. "Play that song with it, baby!"

For a minute I forgot until it just came to me. "Oh YEAHHH! That's it, that's the tune! You rock! I'm blown away!" the scarecrow shouted as I played his song. The Scarecrow's Song. "Oh, no, no! I didn't forget the song…I never forget anything! But I just feel like rewarding you, baby!" he then seemed to be in a deep thought. "I have a good idea! My buddy Pierre is wandering around, so play that tune when you want to call him! I'll tell him to help you if he's nearby and hears that song, baby!"

"Alright. Thanks." just as I was about to go, he spoke once more.

"Hey, I can tell that you're upset about something. But, don't be bothered by it. Everything is going to work out just fine!"

I faintly smiled at him before walking away.

"Hey, mister! I remember you! It's been a long time!" the fishermen owner greeted me.

I decided to go fishing. It might help me to take my mind off the things that had been going on.

"Yeah. I guess it had. Seven years, eh?" I gave a crooked smile.

He nodded. "Seven years, it was bud. But what have you been doing all this time?"

I groaned softly. That was one question where I wish people wouldn't ask. "Oh you know…stuff…"

"Ah okay. You're my only customer. I'm almost out of business! Seriously! On top of that my hair…"

Looks like things hadn't been going good with him as well.

"Uh, I mean, never mind…Well, do you want to go fishing? It's only twenty Rupees."

"You know I will." I replied, paying him the amount of money he needed.

He gave a smile. "Wow! You have a Rumble Feature! Today, you can feel the vibration, young man! Ok, listen up!"

Grinning evilly, I walked back a bit to give myself a good distance and then I swung the rod, seeing the rope grabbing the bait…which was the man's hat.

"What?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing to me?!" he panicked, not really want to show that he was nearly bald.

I grinned. "Just havin fun." I went in the water then chucked the hat as a bait.

"WHAAAAAAT?!" the man freaked out, seeing his beloved hat in the water. "Why are you doing this to me? What are you thinking? I'm not going to let you get off that easy! You have to pay me a fifty Rupee fine! Seriously!"

I chuckled, amused before feeling the rope tugging. This one seemed to be stubborn than the other first fish I had caught. It was a while before the fish surrendered.

"Wow! This is a real lunker! Let's see…it weighs fifteen pounds! Do you want to keep it?"

I nodded. "Sure."

I then went back to him and he told me that it was another new record. He gave me a golden scale in which I could dive much deeper than I could before. I really need this…

"Now my hat." he replied, word by word.

Smirking, I threw the hat at him who caught it. He squeezed the hat to drain all the water before placing the hat back on his head while muttering how there was a hole in there. I quit as I had enough and then decided to go to Kokiri Forest as I had some work to do.

You all know what it is.

I destroyed the Deku Baba that greeted me when I entered the entrance to the Forest. Within minutes, it was killed.

"Who are you?" Mido asked as I went up to him. So now he blocks this path too? "I promised Saria that I would not let anybody pass."

"Well you're gonna have to. I'm sure Saria won't mind."

Mido suspiciously stared at me. Does he seriously doesn't recognize me? "Who are you?" he repeated. "How do you know Saria?"

"Long story. Can you move?"

"No." he refused, stubbornly.

Sighing, I took out the Ocarina and played Saria's song.

Mido's eyes widened at the familiar tune. "That melody?! Saria plays that song all the time! You…Do you know Saria?"

"Yes." I replied, getting annoyed. He has not changed one bit.

"Oh…but you didn't tell me your name." Mido responded, fixing his eyes at me as if he was trying hard to remember who I was.

I stared at him, deciding whether not if I should tell him who I am. "You will find out one day."

"Why can't I know now?" he demanded, hands on his hips.

"Because now is not the time!"

"When I see you…" he replied, quietly though I heard him. "I don't know why, but I remember…him…"

It was silent before Mido spoke.

"Saria taught that song only to her friends…Ok…I trust you." I smirked inwardly. If only he knew who I was…then he wouldn't even trust me at all. He shifted sideways to let me pass but as I reached the entrance, he spoke again halting me in my tracks.

He seemed to be struggling for words…"Um…when you see…Link…I just want you to tell him…" he struggled as if it was the most horrible punishment for him to do. "Can you tell him that…I'm sorry for the way I treated him. I admit: I do miss him…I hope he's safe somewhere…" he mumbled the last part.

I was surprised to hear those words coming out of him. I nearly regretted for not telling him who I was but on the other hand, I just love to see the bullies falling to their "downfall".

"And…" he struggled again. "Saria…really liked Link…" he trailed off.

My eyes widened at the new sentence but tried to keep a straight face. I opened and closed my mouth, also trying to find the words. I hadn't expected that at all.

Finally, I spoke. "I will. When I see him, I will."

"Thanks…" he mumbled before I went to the entrance leaving Mido to stare after me.

_He looked really familiar… _Mido thought.

I stared at the ground as I walked. Did Mido actually apologize for the way he treated me? That's just not possible…And…Saria liked me? As in what? As in a love way? Or the friend's way?

Sooner or later, I arrived at Sacred Forest Meadow.

"From here on, we'll be going through some narrow passages! If you take it slow, maybe you can sneak up on some enemies." I already saw an enemy that wasn't too close to me. It looked hideous; with green skin and sharp spikes that seemed to be protruding out of its shoulders. It carried a spear as a weapon.

I took out my Hookshot to try it out and with a howl of pain, I widened my eyes just how quickly it killed the moblin. Black blood ooze at the wound of what the moblin had gotten. I gingerly stepped over the blood before continuing to trek this maze.

Unfortunately, because it was dark I didn't see where I was going so I tripped over a loose branch, instantly alerting the moblin. The moblin charged at me with its spear being in front so I rolled out of the way before doing a somersault then got up to spin around, killing the moblin in the process.

I gazed at the sword, fascinated by the movements that it just displayed. It was different than the Kokiri Sword…the movements were much sharper than before.

I fell again to the ground, without a warning. Groaning, I pushed myself up only to find the sharp spear pointing dangerously at my chest. Looking up, I saw that it was obviously a moblin that glared with its burning eyes.

"Hi?" I replied, sheepishly before hearing a roar from the moblin. Apparently, it doesn't like to be greeted. Doing a stupid thing, I laid back down then rolled to my left, wincing as the spear scraped my shoulder blade to the next. I then got up to attack it.

I blocked his next attack before doing a spin attack then got out my hookshot to strike at the chest which in result, made the moblin to die.

When I reached a small pool of water, the moblin and I wrestled one another…Yes…wrestling and so far the moblin was winning as he pressed his spear tightly against my throat, cutting the oxygen…

Until I just managed to push him when I was at the brink of losing conscious. We both rolled to the pool of water that was in the middle of the four corners of the wall. I finally made him to get off me as I heard his muffling yells since he struggled to swim to the surface.

I broke the surface, coughing out the water. As I neared the edge to heave myself up, without a warning, something grabbed my ankle, pulling me down as my yell of surprise got cut off when I plunged into the dark water. The green eyes told me who it was; it was the moblin.

Struggling to get loose, everything suddenly went into a slow motion as I killed it with the hookshot. Everything seemed to stand still as I still watched the dead enemy sinking. It was then that everything got back to normal, letting me to break the surface for some air.

Pulling myself up, I collapsed on the grass breathing normally. As usual, passing out became my habit…so I just passed out…

* * *

I gasped as I avoided the giant club from the giant version of the moblin. I thought I got the timing right but didn't which was why, I flew backwards from the shockwave it created. Running towards him had nearly made me to be killed. Gasping, I ducked down rolling out of the way as the giant club smashed at the ground that was just an inch from hitting me.

Now if a person was watching this, they would think that the club smacked me but it didn't. It just looked like it did because it was an inch away from actually shattering my body.

And then, there was this one point where the giant brutally rammed its club at my stomach, blowing the wind out of me. Massaging my stomach, I groaned pushing myself up coughing the "air" out.

Finally, I somersaulted to get behind him and with a couple of hits, he was dead.

I ascended the stairs to see a circle with the Triforce in the middle of it. The spot of where Saria sat was gone as I got confused.

Where was Saria?

But a sudden movement made me to go into a fighting stance though only to relax when I saw Sheik. This time, I could clearly make his figure out.

He wore some kind of a blue and white outfit with a symbol that looked like an eye in the middle of the suit. A cloth covered his mouth and nose, only revealing his sharp eyes. A head cloth was on his head while blond hair was sticking out and it looked like one of his eyes was covered from the bangs.

If anything, he was an interesting figure, that's for sure.

"The flow of time is always cruel…Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it…" Sheik replied as he walked towards me. "A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days…In order to come back here again, play the Minuet of Forest."

He took out a harp and played the tune. Sheik paused, looking at me and I caught on. I took out my Ocarina and he began to play it first while I joined seconds later.

"Link…I'll see you again…" he responded before vanishing in a blink of an eye though I knew he used the Deku Nut.

I looked up to see some vines attached to a wall so I used the hookshot to get up on the higher point then entered inside the entrance. A building-like structure greeted me as I ran on the grass to enter the building.

Hey, was this the Forest Temple?

Two howls alerted me the moment I got close to the front stairs. I realized that it was wolfos so I quickly killed them.

I climbed higher and higher in the area I was currently at to grab a key that was in a chest when I saw it. Once I grabbed it, I jumped down then entered the temple revealing a hallway with vines attached to the wall up ahead.

A spider dropped down but it was dead, making a clear pathway for me. Then, I got out of the hallway to be on a balcony-like structure then stopped to see four lit torches though they seem to have different colors such as green, blue, purple-pinkish, and orange.

The fire expanded to be in a circle before disappearing. Something that looks like Poes appeared on the torches, each representing the colors of the flames. The odd machine that was in the middle vanished from the Poes's lanterns. They then flew away, each having their own path.

Exiting out of this room by going straight and entered the entrance, I was met with a white-bluish flying skull. Like all other enemies, it was killed. The minute I entered the room, it got locked by having the metal bars sliding down. Two skeletal warriors with shields at their sides with swords emerged out of the ground.

Stalfos…great…

The first stalfo proved to be tricky as it practically dodged every move I made. We both got attacked when I did a spin attack, striking him whereas the stalfo did a vertical slash, making a cut on my shoulder.

Sometimes I would hit him and sometimes he would hit me but the stalfos weren't difficult creatures to kill. Three hits and the first stalfo was dead, leaving one left. Occasionally, the stalfo would do a few jump attacks though I would attack it when it jumped into the air.

We both leaped into the air yet we somehow managed to avoid one another by a centimeter. I then did a spin attack, damaging him a bit more until he went dead. A chest appeared and the item was a small key.

I then went back to the main room with the stolen flames from the torches then turned to the right to enter the entrance after playing the Song of Time so that the blue wall can be gone and to be replaced with a normal brown door with a gold doorknob.

I was met with a big Deku Baba which got killed. The room had a small stream and a ground for me to walk on. A small bridge was over the stream, having a path in which I can reach the other side.

I climbed up the vines since I had seen it after exploring the room a bit and it seemed the vines are the only way up. I was right when I saw a door and entered the next room to defeat the white-bluish flying skull.

Then, I exited out of the hallway after defeating the skull only to defeat yet another Deku Baba that emitted its poison out of its mouth which I dodged it and covered my mouth so I wouldn't inhale it.

I activated a red switch since I had seen it which lowered the water that nearly looked like a Well. I took a view of the area which had many tall walls with platforms on them though they were ignored for now and I jumped out of the spot I was currently in, in order to reach the lower floor.

I then jumped into the well-like structure to the bottom and then continued to follow the linear path that seemed nearly endless. A chest laid at the end of the path as well as a vine that was attached to the wall. In the chest was a small key that I grabbed it and then, I went all the way back to climb the ladder to exit out of the hallway of the well.

When we reached the main room (with those unlit torches), the door slammed shut, indicating that it was locked from the metal bars. Curiously, I searched for the danger that would reside in this room but found none.

Shrugging, I climbed the stairs that had the balcony and a locked door was there. The key that I had gotten unlocked the door and I was able to enter the room. A large spider with a skull on its body hung down from the ceiling though it got destroyed from the hookshot.

Up the ladders I go when I entered the room.

"There are arrows painted on the floor!" Navi pointed it out as she looked at the floor.

"I thought you aren't talking to me." I mumbled, only to be ignored.

I sighed before pulling out a large crate that was to my left. The crate was soon in its proper spot. After that, I climbed a ladder once the crate arrived at its destination. Sometimes, I would get lost as to where I'm supposed to go in this hallway as there was so much turns and twists so I would pinch the bridge of my nose in order not to scream.

I hate this!

The more I look at the temple, it was more of an abandon large "castle-like" building since sometimes there are paintings but few of them would freak me out with its demonic twisted smile. I swore I could've seen one of the paintings had its eyes open.

Didn't it had its eyes…closed?

I shuddered at the thought as I pushed another crate. Moans that reminded me of a ghost would occasionally pass by, making me to stop what I was doing and tried to figure whether or not I was imagining it since whenever I tried to listen to it, the moan would stop as soon it had started.

After defeating two flying skulls that was in the next room, I entered the next room after unlocking it only to jump back from its odd shape.

"This corridor is all twisted!" Navi stated the obvious fact.

"Really? I never knew that." I said, flatly then earned a glare.

"Someone's grouchy." Navi mumbled.

I ran my hand over my clenched jaw before crying out with frustration…well not really…

"Look, I'm sorry!" I cried out, taking Navi with surprise.

"For…what?"

"For being so stubborn and hard to reason guy! I know I shouldn't keep on blaming myself. You were right: if I kept on blaming myself, then who would have faith in me? People probably would like a Hero that is a confident type of guy. I'm not that. I can't even handle a fact that I'm the Hero of Time." I ranted.

"Don't say that!" Navi proclaimed. "You are confident though you can lack of confident sometimes…and can be reckless most of the times which will eventually send you to your death—"

"Navi!" I cried out.

"All I'm saying is that…I really like you…you're not like everybody else…You're kind and selfless and always puts others before yourself. Even if some are mean to you. I'll admit: I was actually surprised when Mido says that he missed you…and when he mentioned that Saria likes you."

"I know me too." I replied, quietly.

"Wait! But what about Melon?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I think you mean Malon." I snorted. "What about her?"

"Isn't she your girlfriend as well?"

"Navi!" I scolded her. "She's not my girlfriend!"

The blue fairy cackled before flying off into the distance. "Link got a love triangle! Link got a love triangle!" her voice bounced all over the corridor.

Everytime I ran on the twisted corridor, it felt like I was about to fall off.

I finally caught up to the annoying blue fairy after she told me to watch for the shadows of monsters that hang from the ceiling. After that, I just stuffed her back inside my hat only to have my hair pulled.

Angrily, I rubbed my head and debating if I should feed Navi to a Deku Baba. Two rooms had passed and the third room got locked once again since I had to fight a stalfo yet again.

Being the reckless person I was, I didn't see the stalfo since the room barely had any light (but I was still able to see a bit) so I felt something being rammed into me though I was just lucky that I was able to see the hole and I grabbed the edge of the ground so I wouldn't fall down.

I then swung myself up, hitting in the skeleton's face with my feet in the process. Shocked, the creature stumbled backwards allowing me to do a jump attack when I got into the air.

With a stab, the beast died. It wasn't done yet as two more skeleton warriors popped out of the ground. I grunted, clutching at the side when one of the beasts tricked me by hiding into the shadow and did a surprise attack. The blood oozed out of my side; the blood staining the tunic.

Ignoring it for now (but it got worse as it hurt everytime I tried to fight them), I finally managed to hit at least one of them. I hate when there are two of them.

With one smooth attack, the skeleton shattered having its bones scattered on the floor. Slightly panting, I made my way to kill the other stalfo that had been lurking in the shadows. Sensing it, we both did a jump attack yet I just narrowly avoided his jump attack as it just sliced cleanly through the air; a centimeter away from the side of my body.

My attack did struck the warrior though he didn't give up. I gasped when I felt something brushing past by my face. I looked to see that there was another stalfo that came out of nowhere.

Literally.

At a final attack, every single brute had died though at the last minute, the last stalfo decided to knock me over so I fell to the ground, skidding on my shoulder a bit. Closing my eyes for a second (although a chest was waiting for me in the middle of the room), I slowly breathed in and out because of the wound I had; it slightly stopped bleeding.

"Link?" Navi poked me at the side where it wasn't wounded with her tiny finger.

I moaned. "Leave me alone. I want to sleep…"

Frowning, Navi sighed. "Alright. I'll wake you up as usual."

The fatigue took over me.

As a reward, I got a bow that looked finely crafted. Navi told me that it was a Fairy Bow. This could be handy.

I jumped back when I climbed the set of stairs to reach the destination of where I wanted to go. The painting with the Poe scared me so I took out my Bow and fired it. I was surprised that I had the target on the first try as the bow wasn't really that popular in the Kokiri Forest.

After hitting the Poe that was hiding in the painting, it got out of it to reveal itself. I chased the red robe Poe and when it spotted me, it swirled around though I blocked it with my shield. The Poe cackled, disappearing which only left the floating torch which I knew it was still carrying it.

It spun around invisible but after hitting it with my shield, the Poe revealed itself and I was able to strike it. It vanished again and I hit it with my shield. The Poe then died into flames, dropping something on the floor. I picked it up though I have no idea what it was as I watched the flame lighting up the torch that was in this room.

A chest appeared that contained the key and of course I grabbed it.

I went to another twisted corridor but Navi told me to look above the door and saw an eye switch. I went back through the twisted corridor only it wasn't twisted but straight.

I jumped down to retrieve the Boss key from the Boss chest. Once spotting the hole, I jumped down to see the flying skulls which were destroyed. I realized that was I back in the room where it had that stream and the bridge though I was on a higher point of that room.

Room through room, I found myself in that twisted hallway with those crates in which I had to pull to get to their destinations from before. I wondered where the Boss was. Probably somewhere in the basement or something…

It wasn't long til I had found another Poe which also "haunted" the painting. Like with the other two Poes, this one was destroyed and I chased down to battle it. The strategy was the same as the other two Poes from before so it was easy to kill this one. When it did, I resumed back to my task to find the other Poe; the last one.

I was in a room where it had the spinning platforms with something on the floor that looked poison. When the first platform came, I jumped on it and looked to see that there was an eye switch though something blocked it from letting me to hit it. I got the Fairy Bow out which melted the "barrier" and it also had struck the eye which got closed.

I got out of the room that contained the spinning platforms and went back to the corridor only to find that it was twisted.

"Link, watch out!" Navi cried out. "The ceiling is falling down!" I moved out of the way just in time as the ceiling fell down.

"That was…close." I replied, shakily.

"You don't say." she muttered.

I felt the ceiling rising back up and stayed there for a couple of minutes. When I took a step a bit further inside, I ran back to let the ceiling fall. There was no way I could make this without being squashed. When the ceiling rose back up, I made a mad dash.

Seeing a switch, I pressed it which opened the locked door though I gasped when the ceiling started to fall down so I shielded my head with my arms but I didn't feel any heavy impact on. Curiously, I lowered my arms to find that I was in a hole from the ceiling which made me to breath out a sigh of relief.

I'm still alive.

Finally reaching the end point, I entered the next room.

Made it in one piece.

A yellow Poe hid herself in a painting so I shot it, hearing her cackle before blocks fell down. I realized that I probably had a time limit and looked at the blocks, noticing that it had the pictures of the Poe but was scattered. Thinking, I got set to work since I had to form these blocks into the yellow Poe.

I moaned with irritation when I got so close to finish the blocks but the time beat to me first so I had start all over. I hate Poes.

I was done within thirty seconds the second time and the Poe appeared, looking peeved. Sucks to be you. The Poe was defeated, lighting up the torch with its respective color and the door got opened.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Navi when we were back in the main room. This time, the flames from the torches were lit up in its proper place.

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like…" I paused. "Someone's crying." I answered then jumped to the lower floor.

"Link." Navi replied, nervously.

I realized that it was the Poe but when it spotted me, it grew angry duplicating itself. When I shot the first Poe with an arrow, it vanished as I figured that it wasn't the real one. The second time was the real one since all of its other copies disappeared.

They then reappeared again, making me to randomly shoot a Poe only to find that it wasn't the right one. The third time I growled with frustration as sometimes I would be able to figure out which Poe is the real one and which one is not.

"I hate this. I don't know who the real Poe is." I replied, hissing as I fired another arrow though it was a fake Poe.

Navi thought about it and watched the Poes that came again until her eyes widened as she realized.

"Link. The one that always spins around to summon its copies is the real one." Navi told me.

Huh.

She was proven right when I shot at a real Poe that spun around.

"Thanks." I grinned, earning a nod.

Finally, the real Poe was burnt from its purple flame making the flame to go to the last torch. The elevator that sunk to the bottom was now rising into its normal spot. I went into the machine and the machine went down to the bottom. I pushed some switches and walls here and there when I arrived at the bottom.

After getting the right door which was the Boss door, I ran to the hallway to reach the big door then placed the boss key inside of the lock. The room was semi-dark so I was careful when I climbed up the stairs and then reached the battle arena.

When I saw an entrance, spikes shot up blocking the path though I heard something breathing…it felt…inhuman…

Looking around, my eyes widened at the sight of the familiar black horse and a cackle came from the figure that was on it.

Ganondorf.

Cackling, the evil being waved his hand over his head so that it was in blue flames but it felt like it was being transformed into something.

The horse and the person rose into the air then entered through a picture to let the battle begin. I searched around the paintings to spot him but when he started to come through the painting, a portal was shown, allowing Ganon to get out of the painting. Thinking, I got out my Bow to hit it and once it did, the person vanished.

However, when I saw the two paintings, two Ganons came from it so I was confused until I spotted the other image, turning darker and it turned back from the surface of the painting so I knew which one was the real one.

At the last moment, I missed my target and the evil being shot a lightning blast that was at the center of the battlefield. It exploded when it touched the ground, sending the energy surge through the ground in multiple directions. I tried to dodge them but one of them struck me.

I collapsed down to the ground, writhing in pain that I let out a scream, a horrible one. When it died down, I laid there unmoving for a bit before I felt my heart beating again. Shakily, I took out my Bow but my whole body was still shaky from the attack.

Finally, I managed to hit the real Ganon and his horse perished which forced him to hover over the battlefield. He twirled his staff before firing the magic balls at me which I deflected it and it hit him instead of me.

I didn't get a chance to hit him as he was already up in the air. The first couple of hits missed the real target so the magic balls collided with the walls instead of Ganon.

At last, Ganon was hit from his own magic sending him to fall down. I was able to hit him two times before he went back up and the process continued. And then, Ganon changed his battling plan by mounting his staff to charge at me though he would still fire the magic balls at me.

Finally, the magic ball struck him at last and the phantom flails around before dangling in the air while slowly being disintegrating in blue flames. A purple black portal appeared in the middle of the room whereas a voice was heard.

"Hey kid, you did quite well…It looks like you may be gaining some slight skill…"

I snarled as I said the cursed name. "Ganondorf."

He chuckled, darkly. "But you have defeated only my phantom…When you fight the real me, it won't be so easy!" the phantom Ganon screamed with agony as the blue flames burned him alive. "What a worthless creation that ghost was! I will banish it to the gap between dimensions!" the phantom Ganon then went into the portal as the portal closed when it swallowed its prey. The voice of the real Ganondorf vanished as a blue light appeared in the middle of the room. I transported myself out of the chamber in a blue crystal that enveloped me and into the world I knew.

The figure slowly appeared at a green symbol.

I gasped when I saw who it was. "Saria!"

She smiled. "Thank you…Because of you, I could awaken as a Sage…As you know, I am Saria. The sage of the Forest Temple. I always believed that you would come. Because I know you…"

I started to speak but she cut me.

"No…You don't have to explain it to me…Because it is destiny that you and I can't live in the same world. I will stay here as the Forest Sage and help you…"

I stared at the ground, letting the information to slowly sink in. This wasn't fair…

"Saria…" I started.

"Link, please try to understand. And please, take this Medallion…"

Like with Rauru, she lifted her hands and soon a green Medallion floated into mine. I felt the Chamber of Sages vanishing but not before hearing a voice.

"Saria will always be your friend…"


	13. Trouble with the Gorons

Author's Note: I also changed some things. You'll know what it is and it's more of a 'what-if' for this part. Oh also when Navi says she went to a Fairy School, let's pretend she did so I made that part up.

Chapter 11: Trouble with the Gorons

I got transported back to where the Deku Tree was…I mournfully stared at the ground until something caught my attention. Curiously, I kneeled to the ground but gasped softly when I saw the small plant. However, without a warning, the plant popped out of the ground as I let out a scream, falling to the ground. Shaking my head, I gazed at the odd smiling plant.

"Hi there! I'm the Deku Tree sprout!" it greeted me, making me to stare at it with a dumb-founded look on my face.

"The what?"

"The Deku Tree sprout!" it repeated, slightly annoyed. "Because you and Saria broke the curse on the Forest Temple, I can grow and flourish! Thanks a lot!"

"Uhh…no problem?" I replied, unsure. I got up and walked towards the sprout.

"Hey, have you seen your old friends? None of them recognized you with your grown-up body, did they?"

"Nope. Not even Mido."

"That's because the Kokiri never grow up! Even after seven ears, they're still kids!"

I'm aware of that…

"You must be wondering why only you have grown up!"

"I'm not a Kokiri. I always felt that I was different from the rest."

It nodded. "Yup! But did you know you're actually a Hylian?"

"Huh?"

"I'm guessing you didn't. I am happy to finally reveal this secret to you!" a weird pull came into my mind, morphing a scene.

The scene contained with blazing flames, flaming violently.

"Some time ago, before the King of Hyrule unified this country, there was a fierce war in our world. One day, to escape from the fires of the war, a Hylian mother and her baby boy entered this forbidden forest. The mother was gravely injured…Her only choice was to entrust the child to the Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the forest. The Deku Tree could sense that this was a child of destiny, whose fate would affect the entire world, so he took him into the forest." the sprout told me. "After the mother passed away, the baby was raised as a Kokiri. And now, finally, the day of destiny has come!" the scene with the flames vanished as I was now back in the forest. "You are a Hylian, and were always bound to leave this forest. And now…You have learned your own destiny…So you know what you must do…"

"To defeat the greatest evil that ever existed." I mumbled, earning a nod.

"Exactly! Now, Link, break the curses on all of the Temples, and return peace to Hyrule!"

We were at the Market and took a turn that I think it led to the Castle. Seeing a broken gate, I ran towards it but a swirling red object was there and it showed the bridge. I gasped at the castle as it now turned into a castle of darkness with a black swirling cloud above it.

"That cloud over Death Mountain…There is something strange about it…"

"Tell me about it. I hate this place. It gives off such a bad vibe." I shuddered to emphasize the point.

"Yeah. I agree. Well, let me know when we get out of here." Navi replied before zooming into my hat. I mumbled something about her being lazy.

I arrived at the creepy Market (I'll admit: I miss the people and the not-so-happy guards) then got out of it as soon as I could by going to the Temple of Time.

"You destroyed the wicked creatures that haunted the temple and awakened the Sage…" Sheik replied once he saw me coming to him. "But there are still other Sages who need your help. In order to awaken all the other Sages, you must become even more powerful. You must travel over mountains...under water…and even through time…"

I don't know why but something about going through time worries me. I can't help it but to think that something…bad will happen when traveling back in time. It just worries me…

"If you want to return to your original time, return the Master Sword to the Pedestal of Time. By doing this, you will travel back in time seven years…"

…That means I will be a kid again won't I? And Ganondorf…he wouldn't turn this world into monsters…right?

"The time will come when you will have to return here quickly…I will teach this to you for when that time comes…The song to return you to the Temple of Time…The Prelude of Light…" like before, Sheik took out his harp to play the song until I followed his example.

The last tune faded away as I gazed at the floor.

"As long as you hold the Ocarina of Time and the Master Sword, you hold time itself in your hands…" he told me, mysteriously. "Link, we shall meet again!"

With a disappearance from the Deku Nut, he disappeared. Looking at the pedestal, I stabbed the sword on it and the familiar feeling ran through me. The column of light enveloped me and soon, I was back in Temple of Time…but…as a kid again…

It feels weird…beyond weird to be a kid again. When I reached Kakariko Village, I was so happy to see a Hyrule Soldier and the blue sky. I laughed as I skipped gleefully, having an odd look from the Soldier. Sometimes, being a kid was a lot more simpler than being an adult…Kids, stay a kid forever…

I then slowed myself down as a thought came. I wouldn't have Epona now would I? She would still be a foal…Because of that thought, I sulked through the village whereas Navi would throw me an odd look.

"What's the matter with you?" Navi asked.

"I wouldn't have Epona." I replied, dully.

"Oh for—"Navi mumbled something about being an idiot…

The Death Mountain that used to have a pink swirling cloud no longer has it. Instead, it was replaced with a cloud of smoke; a happy kind of smoke. I sniffed since I missed the feeling terribly.

I went to the guy who blamed the "Ocarina Kid", you all remember that guy right? Anyways, I then played the Song of Storms feeling that something had changed outside.

"Go around, go around, go around…What? It's going way too fast!" the guy exclaimed.

Getting out of the house, I noticed that the water that was in the well got drained so I'm guessing that's what had been changed. I fell into the well after jumping down and reached the dark bottom. The bottom of the well was filled with big spiders and with an eerie feeling in the atmosphere. I couldn't help it was as if the walls were looking at me as I grabbed the small key from a chest I found.

It's creeping me out.

The also bizarre part was that I could actually go _through _the walls. How insane is that? As if going back in time wasn't bizarre enough…I scoffed at the thought as I explored the well.

When I went further down, I was nearly greeted from the poisonous green water. I flailed my arms around since I lost almost balance but then resumed my trek.

Thumping sounds would occasionally be heard and moans that resembled more of a ghost, making me to be cautious about it. Seeing two boulders after twists and turns, I blew it up by using a bomb.

As soon as I entered, the bone chilling scream from the redead made me to be frozen in my current state. Shuddering violently, I shook myself out of it while muttering about hating redeads. I ignored it for a now and went back to the stream of poison to reach to the other side. I carefully balanced myself on the firm narrow ground, not wishing to die or get poison in the process…

The end was there so I jumped on the wider path where it contained a ladder being attached to the wall. The door got opened after I collected a silver Rupee (don't ask) then went through the entrance only to see that it had been locked again. Come on!

The only way out of this room was to go through the wall…I had that feeling. It feels like you're actually going to be stuck in there one way or another…

The paintings on the wall freaks me out even more as they would lifelessly glare at me as if something I did was my fault. I'm terribly sorry if you got stuck in the painting…I'm not the one that got drawn…sheesh. I gave out a sudden shriek when I saw the bars. Frantically, I stumbled backwards when I saw a dead corpse having its hands on the bars as if it was trying to escape…as if the bars resembled a prison…

"Link?" Navi questioned at the sudden scene.

"N-Nothing. I'm fine. I just want to get out of here." I replied, giving a one last glance at the dead corpse that had its head on the side of its shoulder though a part of it was leaning on the silver bars. I cringed when I saw the rest of the dead corpses that laid scattered across the floor.

Many of them looked like they had been brutally tortured since their mouths had been as if they were trying to let out a scream but only to have it silent. Shutting my eyes closed, I went away from it.

I then played Zelda's lullaby where it was required and continued down the path of where I needed to go after that.

But the thing about the dead corpse I just saw not a moment ago just freaks me out especially the one with the head on the bars with its lifeless eyes. Just thinking about that caused me to shudder unpleasantly.

When I reached another room, I got locked on and waited if there was anything in the room that needs to be defeated. Around what it looked like a hand seemed to have even more pale hands that has red or pink markings on them that surrounded the main hand.

The thing that was in the middle was flabby, almost tumorous mass being covered in patches of something that looks…I cringed; blood. It also had two tiny arms that terminate in sharp red spikes rather than hands, and a head with a gigantic gaping mouth armed with huge teeth. The eyes are black and expressionless and its jaw can open incredibly wide.

I attacked the disgusting creature (the main head…was it a hand?) with the sword. It then disappeared. The head reappeared though it was behind me so I did a backflip then turned around to stab at it. One of its hands grabbed me when the main head disappeared so I screamed with fright, struggling to get loose.

I didn't escape on time since I felt something sharp biting my shoulder, letting a cry out. Limply, I got dropped to the ground—well, clumsily fell to the ground—before ignoring the wound. The hand remerged again so I attacked it again a couple of times until the hand sunk to the ground.

On the last couple of hits, the hideous creature was killed so the locked door got opened after a chest appeared from a swirling line of sparkles. I frowned when I saw the object. It looked like a handle with a glass in the middle though the glass was pink as it held a diamond in the middle and the handle was purple. There were also some things on the top of the handle that looked like eyelashes only it was red…

What the heck is that?

But a scream nearly made me to drop the object but I grabbed before it could touch the ground. I turned around and saw Navi excitedly staring at the object.

"I'm guessing you know what this is." I replied, holding the object.

She nodded furiously. "Yes, yes, yes! It's the Lens of Truth! I always wanted one of them!"

"The what of Truth?"

"The Lens of Truth." she repeated. "They help you to see things that are mysteriously hidden. Do you remember when you had to walk through a wall?" I nodded. "Those things are called an illusion. With this thing, you can actually see the illusions!"

I grinned. "Cool." then paused. "How do you know?"

Navi mumbled. "I had to go to a Fairy School*. I pleaded my mom if I could just have home schooling but no, she said going to an actual school would be more fun." she muttered, annoyed.

I smirked. "Aw poor Navi." I fake-cooed with sympathy though I received a nasty sneer from her.

I blinked when I tried on the Lens of Truth. Like Navi had said, I was able to see the "illusions" when I got out of the mini boss dungeon. This is seriously cool but I don't know about you, I think the Master Sword is even cooler.

I whimpered when I had to go that silver bars where it had those dead corpses. I shut my eyes once I jumped down to the bottom so that I could enter the entrance before gingerly stepping over the corpses. Seeing a ladder I climbed up to reach the higher point.

I forced myself to play the Sun's song since something would probably happen once I played. I was in a room that looked like graveyard since it had the tombstones and such. A redead came out of its tombstone but I attacked it before it could have a chance to shriek.

Getting out my Deku stick, the top of the stick was lit up from the torch that was lit. When I lit up the other torch that wasn't lit, the top from a random tombstone that got opened a bit. I resumed to this to the other unlit torches until every torches were lit.

In one of the open tombstones, I grabbed the small key from it then exited out of the room after I finished the things that was in that room. Ignoring the dead corpses that hung over the silver bars, I explored the bottom of the Well a bit more.

"I can hear the spirits whispering in this room…Look for the eye of truth… That's what they are saying!"

"Wow, that melody is so cool! Ribbit!" yeap, I was back in the light. Thank the goddesses. I hate that Well.

Right now I'm at Zora's River and decided to play the Song of Storms to the frogs. Don't ask why. This is what you do when you're bored.

Rain poured as thunder boomed once I played the Song of Storms while I heard the frogs singing.

"Siiiigin' the raaaaain, oh what a feeling! Rrrrrrrribbbbit!" the frogs sang, causing me to face palm in my head. "Please take this as a token of our froggish gratitude, ribbit! Alright, see you, ribbit!"

Even though it was thundering and raining, the sky was still…blue…I don't get it. They handed me a heart or rather a heart container. Shrugging, I placed it inside my bag.

Moping, I played the Prelude of Light and felt the warping around me. It was fun seeing the blue sky while it lasted. Sighing, I was then back at the Temple of Time.

But, there was something I must do before going back to my world…The horrible world…I grinned childishly when I saw few people—real _live _people—in the Market though it was nighttime. I giddily giggled when I saw them; I'm just so happy to see them!

"Open the chest and…Surprise! If you find a key inside, you'll be able to advance. Left or right—try your luck!" the owner of the Treasure Box Shop responded. "Ten Rupees to play. Do you want to try it?"

I nodded. "Sure." though I was grinning evilly inside my head as I was planning to use the Lens of Truth. What? I'm not cheating, pfft!

He then handed me a door key which was used to continue to the next room. All I had to do was to select a chest to see how lucky I am. Seeing a locked door, I went in using that key to open it. The light in the room held a green light while a torch was light. Two big chests were settled in the room though I used the Lens of Truth.

After using the Lens of Truth, I was able to spot the key and it was at the chest that was to my left. I then proceed to the next room then the next room and then the other room.

Navi would mutter cheater as I continuously used the Lens of Truth.

I grinned. "Am not." before giving a wink to her yet she rolled her eyes.

I reached the final chest and in it, I got a reward in the big chest which was a piece of a heart container. I then went all the way back.

"Great! You are a real gambler!" the owner congratulated me while stuffing Navi inside of my hat (since she kept on muttering cheater) only to have my hair pulled. Annoyed, I ignored her.

I then got out and trekked on the field that led to the Castle but I didn't went to the castle (I wonder if Ganondorf was still the "loyal" men to the King) to see a gossip stone or whatever the heck.

"Responding to your mask, this strange stone statue talks to you…" I had bought the Mask of Truth from the Happy Mask shop or something like that…I had forgotten what the shop was called but it contained well masks…

"I overheard this…They say that, contrary to her elegant image, Princess Zelda of Hyrule Castle is, in fact, a tomboy!" the stone replied.

Uh…kay?

Anyways, I warped back to the Temple of Time while tearing myself up which caused Navi to literally drag me to where the Master Sword rested. By dragging me, she couldn't even do it.

"I don't want to!" I howled slightly.

"Oh for…" Navi sighed, exasperated. "Get your tiny butt over there!" she heatedly pointed to the room that contained the legendary blade.

"No." I refused stubbornly.

"NOW!" she screamed, causing me to shrink back. Muttering some nasty words, I glared at Navi the whole time before I arrived at the Sword. Sniffing, I pulled the sword out of the pedestal, feeling the blue column of light surrounding me.

Well, I was back in the forsaken cursed world…

But on the brighter side, I get to ride Epona! I did just that the minute I got out of the castle Market. Petting her soft mane, I climbed on her then rode to the path I needed to go but then I decided to change the route so now I'm doing Poe hunting…

I'm bored and don't feel like going to the next temple. Whatever that one is.

"Oh, you brought a Poe today!" the owner of some random shop stated. I was back in the Market though actually not really inside the Market. This shop is at the entrance. "Hmmmm! Very interesting! This is a big Poe! I'll buy it for fifty Rupees. On top of that, I'll put hundred points on your card. If you earn thousand points, you'll be a happy man! Heh heh. Wait a minute! WOW! You have earned thousand points! (I was busy…) Young man, you are a genuine Ghost Hunter! Is that what you expected me to say? Heh heh heh!" the owner then talked some more until I got an item which was an empty bottle. I was running out of bottles anyways…

I then set myself to Kakariko Village the minute I got out of the creepy Market. I still hate that.

"Do you want to play a game? It's twenty Rupees per play." the owner of the Shooting Gallery told me.

As usual, I answered with a sure then he began to tell me how to play.

I then went to the line and many targets came. They were fairly easy to hit however some of them would pop out of the ground instead of hanging on the rope. I pouted when I ran out of time so I went back and was about to speak to the owner since I wanted to try again until someone beat to me first as the hand slammed on the table with twenty Rupees.

Looking up, my eyes lit up with recognition.

"Malon?" I replied, seeing a smirk on her face.

"Nice to see you, fairy boy. I'm playing as well." she spoke to the owner who nodded.

"Competition eh?" he replied, having an amused look.

"More or less." Malon responded. "Besides, Link wouldn't be embarrassed if he got beaten by a girl, would he?" she flashed a cheeky grin making me to sneer.

"Ooo…good luck, boy." the owner replied, looking highly amused.

Muttering, I snatched the bow which earned a laugh from Malon. Then, we went to the line and the objects that were on the rope came as some other objects popped out of the ground.

"What are you doing at Kakariko?" I asked, shooting another "bullseye".

"I just came to visit." she replied, shrugging as she also shot another object dead on.

Malon growled when she saw that I was ahead of her which made me to smirk at her misfortune.

"How are you so good?" Malon asked, annoyed that she was beaten.

"Practice." I replied as if that was the most obvious answer.

Sneering, she paid the man another twenty Rupees. "Rematch!" she hissed, fixing her dangerous glare at me while I laughed.

"Rematch accepted."

"You're cheating! I know it!" Malon exclaimed, frustrated that I had beaten her once again.

"Enlighten me."

Glaring at me, she stomped out of the Shooting Gallery, making me to roll my eyes. Girls are so competitive…

"Oh Malon!" I replied nearly in a singing tone.

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you." she replied once I found her.

Crookedly, I flashed a smile at her. "You're just pissed off that I had beaten you two times…Come on, Malon! It was great. You were great! It was just a game." I insisted.

Malon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever." she mumbled. "Anyways, I gotta go back to my dad. I promised him that I'll help him with some chores."

I snorted. "With the way he does it, good luck."

She giggled before replying with a good bye then took off. Oh yeah, as a reward, I got a big quiver. Something tells me I need that.

I avoided the rolling boulder that rolled down the path of the Death Mountain Trial. That never happened before; Navi was right. Something did happen at the Mountain. Having that thought in my mind, I quickly turned my walk into a run. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

I quickly got out of the Dodongo's Cavern so that I could be at Goron City. There was no Gorons in sight. What in Hyrule had happened to them? Where are they?

"Darunia!" I shouted, hoping to hear at least one of their voices. "Darunia!" I shouted even louder. No response.

Where are they?

"How could you do this to me? You. You're Ganondorf's servant!" the rock replied, glaring at me.

I stopped the rolling rock by blowing a bomb but it wasn't close to it.

"No, I'm not and I can prove it." I replied. I'll never be on Ganondorf's side, as long as I live.

"Hear my name and tremble!" it exclaimed as if it was trying to frighten me. "I am Link! Hero of the Gorons!"

I jumped back with a confused and surprised look. A Goron was named after me?

Grinning, I replied. "Well then, Link…Hero of Gorons. I am Link, the Hero of Time."

Wow that really sounded awkward…

Link the Goron seemed to be frozen…probably frozen with shock. "H-Hero of Time?!" he exclaimed, shocked. He then got out. "What?!"

I chuckled. "That's me, alright."

"Your name is also Link?" he asked. I nodded to confirm once more. "And you're also the legendary Dodongo Buster?" I nodded again. "WOW! My dad is Darunia…Do you remember him?"

"How could I forget? Of course I do."

"Dad named me Link after you, because you're so brave!"

Awww! I'm so touched…

"It's a cool name! I really like it!" he replied, cheerfully.

I smiled widely. "Thank you, Link."

Okay, that really sounds odd…

"Link, you're a hero to us Gorons! I'm so glad to meet you!" he ranted, excitedly. "Please give me your autograph! Sign it: 'to my friend, Link of the Gorons.' Oh…" he suddenly responded. "I guess it's not a good time to ask you for this…Please help everyone!" he pleaded.

"What happened?" I asked, concerned.

"My dad, Darunia, went to the Fire Temple. A dragon is inside! If we don't hurry up, even my dad will be eaten by the dragon! B-b-boooo booooo!"

Worriedly, I comforted him by saying warm words as I wrapped my hand around him.

"Hey don't worry. I'll help your dad. I'll help everyone, I promise. You can trust me." I said, watching Goron Link wiping the tears with his hands.

"R-really?" he choked.

I nodded. "Yes. I'll do whatever it takes to save your dad. Nothing is the limit for me."

Link cracked a smile through his watery eyes. "T-thanks, Link." he stuttered. "I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome but I would need to know more about the dragon."

He nodded. "A long time ago there was an evil dragon named Volvagia living in this mountain. That dragon was very scary! He ate Gorons! Using a huge hammer, the hero of the Gorons…BOOOM! Destroyed it just like that. This is a myth from long ago, but it's true! I know, because my dad is a descendant of the hero!"

Shocked, I stuttered. "D-descendant?"

"Yes." he resumed crying.

"Please calm down." I begged. "Everything will work out. What happened to the Gorons?"

He sniffed. "Everybody was taken to the Fire Temple. While my dad was out…Ganondorf's followers came and took them all away!" I growled at the sound of the name so I tried to control myself. "All of them will be eaten by Volvagia! Dad said Ganondorf had revived Volvagia…As a warning to those who might oppose him, Ganondorf is going to feed them all to Volvagia! Dad went to the Fire Temple all to himself to try to save everyone…Please help, Link! I'll give you this heat-resistant tunic!"

He then got the tunic out and handed to me. It was a red tunic that looked similar to mine. A sudden noise came and I looked to see a door opening.

"Link, I'll be back and I'll have everyone with me." I said with determination in my voice. "Just stay somewhere safe."

He nodded until I stopped.

"Um…do you know where I could change into the tunic?" I asked.

Nodding, he told me that there was a changing room right behind him so he led me to it. It wasn't big or small but it was medium with of course, a door. Closing the door, I quickly changed into the red tunic already feeling a bit hot in it. I stuffed the Hero Tunic inside my bag then got out to go the door.

Unbeknownst to me, something appeared behind the Goron Link but Link already knew who it was since he curled his fists with anger, with tears threatening to spill again.

"Good work, boy. I would never thought you would have it in you." a cold malicious voice replied.

"That's because I actually _care _about my dad!" Link shouted. "I didn't fake it. None of it was fake!"

"Alas." the figure replied with a disappointment tone. "The tunic though…that wasn't a part of the plan. But if all goes well, the _hero _would be sent to his doom."

Link glared, hatefully. "Hero Link will rescue them. He will survive."

Growling angrily, the evil person snapped his finger and two moblins got summoned.

"Take this pathetic fool to the lair where the rest of the Gorons lies." it hissed, angrily. "And make sure that the so called _hero _won't make it out alive." it ordered the two moblins before they did their job.

I went to Darunia's room (I think that was his room) and pulled the statue to enter the path that was called Death Mountain Crater.

I cringed at the horrible heat of what the Mountain Crater has to offer though I resumed to do my task even throughout the terrible heat. However, when I landed on a bridge someone else landed on the end of the bridge at the opposite side of me.

"It is something that grows over time…a true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time…" I loosen up when I saw Sheik walking towards me. "The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power and through it, you will know which way to go…This song is dedicated to the power of the heart…Listen to the Bolero of Fire…"

Like before, he took out the harp to play the song and I followed him with my Ocarina.

"Link…I'll see you again…" I started to go towards him but cried out when the unexpected fire lashed at my forearm, burning it slightly. I looked down to see where it came from but none. Since I was too distracted from it, I didn't see Sheik disappearing.

With my instincts, I went on the stand that had the triforce in the middle of it so I played the Prelude of Light to warp myself to the Temple of Time. Once inside, I went to where the pedestal and plunged my sword in it. The familiar feeling washed over me as I saw the blue column.

Using the new song I just learned, I got warped to the Death Mountain Crater.

"Link, it's so hot in here! We can't stay here for long!" Navi exclaimed, fanning herself as if that will work out.

"I know Navi. But there's something I got to do here." I replied before Navi told me that she will know when the time is up.

I only hope that wouldn't come just yet…

I then placed a magic bean once I spotted soft soil that was beside the platform. Once that was done, I played the Prelude of light to warp myself back to the Temple of Time. Good thing to or otherwise I would've been roasted.

Stumbling to the ground, I wiped the sweat of my face before warping myself in my time.


	14. Fire burn and cauldron bubble

Chapter 12: Fire burn and cauldron bubble!

I smiled when I saw the plant I had planted when I was a kid. I climbed on the leaf flower and it rose into the air, flying around to where I needed to go. I climbed on the top then jumped on the ground to go to the path.

Once seeing a hole I jumped down instead of using the ladder and then I got scolded from Navi because I was being so reckless and I could've probably twisted or sprained my ankle. Rolling my eyes, I then went to the only path in which I could go to.

When I entered the entrance further in, the ground was soft so I could hear my crunching as I jogged towards the front where it had the stairs. This part was made out of rocks with some words being imprinted into the walls. Once at the top, I spotted the door to my left and went towards it, entering it.

The first thing that greeted me was the scorching heat and a voice…

"Who's there? Is that you, Link…?" the familiar voice boomed.

I squinted my eyes to see the figure ahead but gasped with delight. "Darunia! It's me, Link!"

He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it really is Link! You've grown so big since I last saw you! I want to have a man-to-man talk with you, but now's not the time. Ganondorf is causing trouble on Death Mountain again! He has revived the evil, ancient dragon Volvagia! On top of that, he is going to feed my people to that evil dragon as a warning to other races that might resist him…" he replied, saddened.

He sighed. "If that fire-breathing dragon escapes from the mountain, all of Hyrule will become a burning wasteland! I'm concerned though because you and I don't have the legendary hammer…But I have no choice. Link…I'm asking you as my Sworn Brother…While I'm trying to deal with the dragon, please save my people! The prisoners' cells are in the opposite direction. I'm counting on you, Link!"

Before I could stop him, he disappeared through the entrance. Apparently he has a key to unlock the door… I sighed; Gorons are really stubborn, aren't they?

I was able to jump on the first platform that was to my left but I was hanging on the edges since I grabbed it with my hands and pulled myself up. I then continued to jump on the rest of the platforms before pressing a switch in which I had found.

I realized that I had freed a Goron so I went up to him.

"Are you releasing me? Am I free to go?" the Goron asked with a disbelieving look on his face.

I nodded. "Yes. You are free. Go."

"I'll tell you a secret for saving me! In order to get into the room where Darunia went, you have to do something about the pillar stuck in the ceiling." he told me. "Find a path that leads to a room above the ceiling right away!" he then walked away as I spotted a chest in his cell. A small key was in it which I grabbed it.

I then got out of the room and back into the main room (the one where I entered to reach the Fire Temple) since I saw a locked door and used the key to open it. This room looked like a wasteland as it was nearly filled with nothing but lava except for some pathways in which I could go to.

I've noticed that some of the platforms has holes beside them and fire sprouted out as I jumped on a path. But the moment I jumped on a platform that looked like box, it moved indicating that it was going to sink into the lava so I quickly jumped to the more stable ground.

The second Goron asked the same question which was are you releasing me and am I free to go?

"Here's a secret for saving me! A wall that you can destroy with the Goron's "special crop" will sound different than a regular wall if you hit it with your sword." and like the first Goron, this cell also had a chest which contained a small key.

Seeing something up ahead, I thought about it then played the Song of Time. After that, I climbed on a large gray crate to get to the door. It was probably blocked by something so that was why I played the Song of Time. I really like that song and as well as Zelda's Lullaby.

The next room was large and held a green color in it. Noises came and before I could turn to see it, it knocked against me sending me to fall down. Muttering about the unexpected attack, I looked to see that tiles were…what it looked like they were being thrown at me…

So now we have flying tiles?

"This is so lame…" I muttered, getting out my shield to block one of the flying tiles.

"What?" Navi quizzed.

"There's flying tiles. How lame is that?"

"Apparently it's lame enough since you got hit from them." Navi pointed it out, earning a glare.

"You know what? Go back to bed." I muttered, receiving a raspberry. Annoyed, I grabbed the ball of blue light and stuffed her under my hat and of course, my hair got pulled. "OW! Will you stop pulling my hair?!" I exclaimed so I got another raspberry…

When the flying tiles were done, I made my way towards the bars that had a very grotesque creature. When it spotted its prey, it started to attack me but I quickly attacked it first. Or so I thought. The brute _swallowed _me and I felt it's disgusting "spikes" poking me around and I was finally spat back out.

"Link! Your shield is gone! And the tunic! It's also gone as well!" Navi exclaimed.

"Just fantastic!" I replied as I already felt the sweat coming down.

Angrily, I got up to attack violently. I managed to do so with the help of Navi since she told me where to strike it. It was nearly in the middle of the sluggish block creature. Again, I got swallowed much to my dismay then got spat out.

I started to feel really light-headed since my last attack hit the edge of the walls from the creature. Groaning, I leaned on a wall weakly while staring at the ugly creature. Not giving up, I attacked it three times before it finally turned into a puddle of slime-like substance.

"Ew." I exclaimed, pulling the shield from the ground only to have it covered from its slime. The worst part was the tunic as it was covered in slime. Doesn't the creature realize that I have to wear this thing? Ewwww!

Navi snickered at my misfortune but the really EMBARRASSING thing was that erm…well I don't know if you had erm paid attention but erm…this is really awkward. I awkwardly held my shield in front of my body, earning a mad cackle from Navi as she covered her eyes.

"Shut up, Navi!" I exclaimed, embarrassed as my face reddened. I felt my blood draining. Oh goddesses…I just fought the creature _naked_.

Whimpering, I bang my forehead at my shield with embarrassment. So after the little awkward mishap, we got out of the green room. I drew in a breath when I felt my heel of the foot touched the hot lava as I went on the platform and then I climbed the plank. I again felt a part of my body (mostly my feet) touching the hot lava when I reached the other unstable rock since it started to tremble the moment I touched it.

Quickly getting up, I jumped to reach the stable ground. Seeing a wall, I blew it up since I knew there was a door behind it and didn't fool me so I went inside the next room.

"There are switches in this temple that you have to cut to activate. But, you can also use the Goron "special crop" to do the job." I again grabbed the key from the chest after the Goron escaped.

I jumped a large gap from a bridge to reach to the other side to unlock the door with the recent key. The fun part was when I reached the room I was currently at, I slid down the plank before climbing the not so really difficult fence. They hurt my palms but weren't difficult to climb. I carefully climbed myself on the top of it since I was on the ledge of it then turned around to see tall platforms while a column of lava was between the two platforms.

I then turned around to see a wider path on the top of the fence that was to my right. Going towards that way, I jumped on the wider path and killed two critters that were in my way before facing the "block" then waited for the lava to cool down. Frowning, I jumped off the platform only to land on a firm ground that was turned out to be a box, not a platform.

I pushed the box towards the lava so that it could shut off the lava "fountain". I then went on the box and automatically realized that it was a fire geyser since I felt the fire pushing the box into the air. I soon reached the higher point and unlocked the door.

The room had some short and a bit tall floors. Even if they were tall, I was able to reach the edge so I could pull myself up only to find a weird creature that slid across the floor. Well, not slid but crawls. The creature is wreathed in flame as it had a red body and a hole on its back which lets out the fire.

I wasn't fast enough to strike so the odd creature flung itself at me, attaching itself against my torso. I cried out when I felt that it was burning my torso before it de-attached itself from me. Too bad the tunic isn't a fire-protector tunic. I quickly killed so it wouldn't have a chance to strike me again.

The bizarre creature got hardened when I attacked since its fire got extinguished then it was killed. I whimpered when the burn still stung my body though I forced myself not to hug my torso since it would only make it worse.

"Link, lay down and it will be fine." Navi said, worried. I stubbornly shook my head.

"No…it will be worse if I do movements." I whimpered. Navi threw me a sympathy look.

"Do you have a gauze?" she asked. "When it…cools down…make sure that you wrap around the wound."

Nodding slightly, I waited for the wound to be cooled. It took a while but it was worth it; the wound was cooled and I was able to do wrap it with the gauze. I grunted when it stung a bit since I probably pulled my arm a bit harsh then it was needed to.

Climbing up, I was on a nearly higher floor and saw that same creature. This time, I killed it before it even had a chance to attack me. Seeing something shiny on the other side, I gingerly jumped the gap to reach the other path though I discovered it was a crystal switch but before I hit it, I pushed the heavy crate, stopping every now and then because of the wound.

And then, I pulled the box when it dropped down so that the box would reach to its final point. Carefully, I climbed the crate then jumped to where I had seen a fence so that I could climb it. Seeing a flaming "wall", I looked down to where the silver crystal switch and took out a bomb to activate it. The fire wall got extinguished, making the path to be safe.

I was soon in a room that looked more of maze that contained those creatures that burned my torso and with rolling boulders. I frowned when one of the boulders started to follow me when I arrived at a corner that an entrance in which I could go through. Timing it right, the rolling boulder got avoided making a clear path for me.

"When you are on fire, you can put it out by swinging your sword, or by rolling forward…Did you know that?" the erm… (was it the fourth?) Goron told me before he walked away and then I grabbed the small key.

I was back in the maze after I got out of the room.

Raising an eyebrow, I released another Goron that was in this maze room. So, how come on I didn't see this one?

"In this temple, there are doors that fall down when you try to open them. When one of these doors starts to fall, move!"

Falling doors? Huh, that's new. I just hope I don't get squashed.

"If you use a sample of the Goron "special crop", you can break it…"

What the heck is the special crop?!

The Goron escaped and you already know what I got. After being lost quite a few times in the maze, I finally found the locked door and unlocked it. I entered the room to see a nearly narrow path with a very long fall which was why I decided to be careful.

I walked on the narrow path then went to the next room though there wasn't anything in there except for bars and a pool of lava that were behind the bars. Shrugging, I got out of the room and then got locked in.

It was then that I spotted the locked door so I went towards it. Once entering the new area, it had narrow paths with lava. When I jumped on the fence, I turned around to see the flames rising into the air, blocking my way out.

I'm not going to make—oh goddesses, I made it! What I meant by that was that, I spotted the gap and it looked like I wouldn't make it but I did by dangling on one arm though wincing as the wound on the torso began to stung badly so I had to use my other arm to heave myself up.

I rested on my knees for a minute on the floor that looked the fences got turned over before resuming to explore the Fire Temple. Seeing a higher point, I had to play the Scarecrow's song so I would have something for the hookshot to hook. And then, I spotted the target from across me so I made it to the other side by latching it on the target.

The moment I did, the door unexpectedly went down so I ran for it to be inside the next room.

The floor rose up then closed so that it would be a normal piece of the floor. I then went to the door and went in. I was then in a room that had a large circle that was nearly in the middle of the room. Spotting a switch, I pressed it which made the fire that was far ahead of me died out.

Sooner or later, I was back in the maze where it had those rolling boulders but this time I was on the higher level instead of being on the floor. I jumped platform to platform but on the first platform I blew it up as it kinda had hinted to blow it up anyways.

Jumping down, I grunted when I felt the impact on my ankle then jogged through the hallway to press a switch.

"Somewhere in this temple, you're sure to meet up with some creatures that dance as they attack. Arrows won't hurt them! Looks like you might need some of the Goron "special crop!" That's all I have to tell you!" the Goron then went away.

Again, with the special crop! Just what is that?!

"Do you have any idea what the hell is the special crop?" I asked, snatching the key from the chest.

"Nope. I'm stuck." Navi replied.

I released another Goron in the maze after pressing a switch.

"If you find a place that you can see on the map, but can't reach, try playing your Ocarina!"

That being said, I wonder how many Gorons and keys I had collected and released so far. I lost count right after the erm fourth one…that's probably a bad idea isn't it?

But I can't help it though but something about the amount of keys and Gorons is making me to be curious about them. It's like each of them have the same amount…so let's say I got about six Gorons that got released so doesn't that mean that I used six keys so far?

Whoever designed this temple (I'll admit) was pretty smart about having the equal amount of keys and Gorons. But another thing is that, sometimes whenever I use the most recent key, I would always have one key left like a spare for something.

I rubbed my temples at the odd logic of this temple. I don't get it!

And why do the temples always have to have so many twists and turns? I don't want to get lost thanks.

When I went back to where the floors that looked like the fences were turned over, I jumped on one of them and a wall of fire came up blocking the exit. After that, I jumped on the next path though a piece of my neck got scorched from the fire flying skull.

Thanks.

And I wasn't even at the mini boss yet! Yes, I want to get out of this goddesses forsaken temple! Why does every temple have to be this bad?!

I then arrived at another area where it contained spinning poles that sprouted out fire at each of the sides.

"You can see down from here…Isn't that the room where we saw Darunia?" Navi asked, peering down.

I looked down to see the room. "Huh…now that I think about it. It is."

When I jumped down to the spinning poles, it wasn't fun avoiding them as I had narrowly dodged their fires. Not fun at all. Have mercy on me! I'm already burnt…

Oh yeah: and a rolling boulder which was when Navi decided to blind me with her bright light sending me to fall to the ground as I had tripped over my own two feet in attempt to avoid the rolling boulder.

"Really Link?!" Navi cried out with exasperation. "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

"Are you trying to blind me?" I shot back, still seeing some stars that spun around my head. "You didn't need to do that." I moaned.

Navi huffed.

I pressed the switch and looked to see that the wall of fire had died down to reveal a path for the door. I knew I didn't had enough time so I started to make a mad dash towards but I dived (just barely avoiding the tips of the flames) through the air and rolled onto the firm ground just as the flames went back up.

"What's the matter with you?" Navi questioned, oddly looking at me since I would mutter so much.

"Are we done the temple yet?!" I cried out. "I'm hungry, exhausted and just plain thirsty! I hate this temple and I hate everything! I even hate being the Hero of Time! Why me?! Why?! Did I mention that I hate everything?! Because I do! All I wanted was just to have a simple life! Why can't I have that!?" I let the rant to take over me.

"Feel better?" Navi asked once I was done. I nodded. It feels good to release the steam that was held in my body…hehe….get it? Steam like erm…ehh…I'm stuck.

"And I think you will have a simple life when the Hero stuff is done." Navi replied.

I shook my head. "No I won't because I would be itching for an adventure! I will probably be jumpy if I stay at a place more than I need to." I stated, flatly.

I then groaned with frustration when the door got locked. "What now?!" I demanded.

Navi snorted. "Wow ever since you let that rant out, you're really in a bad mood now."

"Shut up, Navi!"

"I rest my case." she muttered.

In front of me had a box with a column of fire in the hole of the box. With a cackle, the creature spun out of it and faced me. It looked much like a scarecrow except its on fire. I automatically opted out using the sword or anything that is vulnerable to the fire. Navi hinted that I should a Hookshot for it. It pulled the actual creature from its burning disguise. It then went back into the fire to flame itself up.

This time, he had blue clothes and he spun around though I grabbed the actual creature (it looked like a bomb…well kinda.) and hacked it away again.

I noticed how he changed his colors as he was now green. Before I could use my hookshot, he spun around to release the flames so I dodged it by doing a backflip just as he released the flames.

Am I good or what?

Of course, that wouldn't last too long since my cheek got scorched when he again released his fire when he was in a green color again.

"Come back here!" I exclaimed, chasing after him while I did as many jump attacks as I could before it went back to the fire.

At last, on the last strike, the creature blew itself up when I killed it but I was sent back, flying through the air because I didn't dodge the "shockwave" when it exploded.

"I hate bombs and fire." I muttered, getting up.

"Well look on the bright side! You're still alive!" Navi chirped, cheerfully making me to sneer.

The door got unlocked though I went on the box that used to have fire on it and the box rose into the air to its destination. I exited out of the room and into the next room where it had a crystal switch beside me. Although it was there, I ignored it for now.

Turning to a corner, I went down the path but stopped a bit since I had to climb on what it looked like a vine. Once at the top, I dropped the bomb to activate it so that it could extinguish the flaming fire. I then climbed again and went into the next room where it had a circle that caused me to wonder about it.

Why was there a circle in the middle of the room? Seeing a switch, I climbed on the floor to reach it and pressed it. One of the fire walls died down to reveal a chest.

I walked on the edges of the circles to reach the chest while the boulder went on its path. I couldn't help it but to think that I had heard a clicking time somewhere…I shrugged off the weird feeling I got and opened chest.

The moment I did, I went back down the floor due to the heavy weight it emitted off. Navi snickered at the fail attempt since I was trying to get back up.

"It's so heavy!" I cried out, trying to get back up.

"Well duh! It's made of steel…" Navi rolled her eyes.

"Why on Hyrule would the Gorons use a steel hammer?" I asked, finally lifting up the hammer and placed it into my bag. I love this bag; I need to thank Saria whenever I could.

I decided to try out the hammer when I got on a tile that looked like it could be "smashed" with the hammer. Grunting, I lifted it up as much as I could before smashing it down. The tile trembled a bit before it descended down.

I used my hammer to smash down at a tile which triggered to make stairs. The ground shook from it so I went to descend down the stairs. And then there was this room where I had to play the Song of Time in order to access a door and stuff.

"This switch looks rusted." Navi observed. Taking out my hammer, the hammer smashed at the switch to open the jail door to release another Goron.

"A door is hidden inside the statue at the entrance to this temple. But, the Goron "special crop" won't work on it…Don't you have anything stronger?" he asked before running away.

I frowned; will the hammer work?

I got the key out of the chest then continued to explore the rom I was currently at before going to the next one. In which I got locked in so I used the hammer to smash at the tile when I jumped to reach it. It went down so fast that I felt my feet being lifted off the tile. Screaming, I just managed to land on the tile that landed on the lava…

Scratch that…

I moaned, clutching my ankle since I probably twisted it in a weird way when I landed. Navi chastised me about it and told me to not put pressure on it.

"So what about am I supposed to do? Hop on one leg all the way to the boss?" I asked, laughing at the ridiculous thought but the straight face from Navi told me she was being serious.

Muttering, I hopped around the place—it was difficult as I had to rest since my other leg was getting worn out—to finish the things I needed to do. Things got even more difficult where I had to jump in order to reach where I wanted to go.

Not fun.

I drew in a sharp where it had those fire slugs; you know the creature that burnt my torso by "hugging" me? Yeah, those ones…I hate them…

The next room had flying tiles and it also included that weird wall where it erm…_swallowed _me…

"Don't get swallowed!" Navi laughed as I attacked the weird creature.

"Shut up, Navi!" I replied, hitting at its weak point.

I groaned with annoyance when I had spotted that flaming dancer. Really? Since I knew his strategy, it was easy to beat him but I had to force myself to run on both of my legs.

After that, he got defeated and I ran—or rather hopped—to save the other Goron.

"Am I free to go?" I nodded.

"Yes. Darunia asked me to rescue you and the other Gorons."

"Oh, I see. I owe you big time! Please help Big Brother!"

He then left, leaving me to open the chest which contained the big key. I was suddenly fearful…

I really did not want to face a dragon that eats people. Besides, I don't taste good.

A day or three passed, I didn't know but I was just anxious to get out of here. I couldn't stand this place anymore. I missed the fresh air…or what's left of the fresh air and like I stated previously, I'm hungry, tired and just plain exhausted.

I smiled when I smashed a pot and the fairy automatically spotted where I was hurt and healed me though I still had to fix it.

I stared numbly when I arrived at the big door. This was it. I was ready (erm…not really…) to face the ancient creature that got revived…

I entered the door to jump the platforms to reach the battle area. The rock platform started to tremble but I realized that it was the platforms that started to sink down. I then gaped at the figure that shot out of the hole from the battling area.

The fire creature jetted out of the hole, flying around to reveal its true size. It was massive like maybe ten feet or so. The dragon then released its fire as if trying to scare its prey before flying around the room once again. The dragon then went back into the hole of where it came home and I unsheathed my sword.

The battle had begun.

This would be a cinch right?


	15. The Temple of Water

**Shoutout: **Thanks to 52 CARDS for favoring the story. Thanks to Yami no Nokutan (I did get your username right, right?) for following and favoring the story.

Chapter 13: The Temple of Water

Volvagia emerged out of the magma pit. I winced when the dragon slashed at my face with its sharp claws since I got to close for him. I'm pretty sure that will leave a scar…thanks, Volvagia. I also thought about how every dungeon that contained the boss…every one of them seemed to be involving the new item I get from the mini bosses.

So with that in my mind, I got out the heavy hammer but before I could strike his head to stun him, the dragon went back into the magma pit. The great dragon then reemerged into one of the magma pit so this time, I used the hammer to stun him. I hacked him away before he went back down though the third time, he flew into the air.

As I hit him with arrows, he breathed out its fire and then he went back into the pit. Reappearing, I smashed him with the hammer to stun him. I thought he was going breath out fire which was I took out my arrows to pierce him but Navi shouted to avoid the boulders. I just barely managed to do so.

The boulders still fell down after the great dragon went back into the magma hole so it was a bit difficult to stun him with the hammer. Nevertheless, I still managed to stun him. And then…

The dragon started to chase me as it releases his fire streaks. Get away! Move! Scat! I tripped over my own two feet (I had forgot that I had either a twisted or sprained ankle) though I turned around to see Volvagia menacingly coming at me and it breathed out its fire.

Gasping, I used my metal Hylian Shield but I still felt its hot heat brushing past by me. When it stopped breathing, it went back down to the pit. I've also noticed that it was trying to trick me since sometimes it go to another hole then another one. But, on the third hole it revealed its head.

And finally, I struck the stunned head. The dragon roared with pain, thrashing its head violently as it sunk down into the pit. Nodding, I started to walk back but the sudden screech of pain alerted me so I didn't had enough time to avoid it. The brute smacked me with its tail making me to see stars as it had struck me where my torso got burnt.

It flew around the room, roaring with agony and then the flames licked its body, forming the once live dragon into nothing but skeleton. The bones shattered down when it reached the bottom though the head freaked me out as it came right in front of me.

It looked like it was gasping for air but it wasn't successful since the head shrunk in a blue flame.

I breathed out a sigh of relief as Navi told me that she doesn't know its weak point.

"It's okay, Navi. The important thing is that I defeated it." I replied, sheathing my sword back in its place.

I got enveloped into a blue crystal but I already knew where I was being transported.

The Chamber of Sages.

I get to see Saria again…

I hope.

In Kakariko Village, a person was watching the Death Mountain until something big shook the village which caused it to lose its balance as it was sitting on the top of the roof. Shaking out of its current state, the person looked up at Death Mountain as it saw the volcano not being active anymore. The once pink swirling cloud was now gone, being replaced with the familiar blue sky and the familiar cloud of smoke.

What just happened?

I got deflated when I saw that Saria wasn't there. Instead, Darunia came out of his respective place.

"Thank you, Brother! I really appreciate what you did. I thank you on behalf of the entire Goron race! You turned out to be a real man, just as I thought you would!"

I smiled, softly. "Thanks. That…really means a lot to me."

He nodded. "By the way, I, the wild Darunia, turned out to be the great Sage of Fire…Isn't that funny, brother? Well, this must be what they call destiny. Nothing has made me happier than helping you seal the evil here! Hey, Brother, take this! This is a Medallion that contains the power of the fire spirits—and my friendship."

Like with Saria, Darunia lifted his hands into the air and I caught the red Medallion.

"Don't forget…Now you and I are true Brothers!" was his last voice before I disappeared from the Chamber.

But what about his people?

I muttered with discomfort as I arrived at the Death Mountain Crater. You couldn't transport me into somewhere else, could you?

I limply got out of the Crater and widened my smile when I saw the familiar blue sky at Kakariko Village.

Finally…the "curse" was broken…

"Link!" a voice shouted so I looked up to see Malon. She ran towards me to talk to me. "It felt like I haven't seen you in ages! You're always zipping in and out of the village!" her eyes fell down when she saw the bloody tunic. "What happened to you?"

"…battled a dragon?" I offered, only to earn a frown. Geez, people these days: no one seems to take any jokes…but of course, I actually did battle a dragon…

"Let's get you cleaned up." Malon replied.

A few weeks had passed and I was better than I was before. By before, I looked a total mess as I had dirt on my face and inside my fingernails and such. My ankle gotten better, thanks to Malon since she was looking after me every single day.

I was still surprised to see her at the Village which made me to be suspicious about her. Didn't she say that she was going to help her dad? They might've already done it but probably came back to visit again.

But after wasting so much time, I began to go to the temple that was in the desert. I reached the Gerudo Valley and the water from the stream reached my ears as I rode Epona on the plank to get to the other side. When we saw that the bridge was broken, I urged Epona to go faster and like she understood me, she raced faster making me to grin as I felt the wind's breeze softly whipping at my face.

It ended the minute we started to jump across the bridge.

"Good girl." I muttered, petting her.

"An arctic wind is blowing from Zora's River…" Navi suddenly said, earning a strange look from me. "Do you feel it?"

"Arctic…wind?" I asked. "I dunno…kind of I guess."

I went to the man who spoke about his workers and how they used to craft stuff. The bridge I just jumped over with Epona got broken from the Gerudos and he pleaded me if I could see what his workers are doing. In return, he got me a weird looking knife but it was probably broken.

Thinking, I went back to the Death Mountain Crater and went to the Death Mountain Trail where, it appeared a really _huge _Goron that Navi reminded me that my mouth was agape still.

Closing it shut, I traded the broken knife and the huge Goron told me that there are fine eye drops in Zora's Domain…

"You will find them if you go to see King Zora!" he boomed after giving me his prescription for the eye drops.

We arrived at Zora's Domain but my eyes widened at the place.

"What…happened? This place is all frozen." I responded with mouth agape. Last time I came here, it was filled with water and now it's just…frozen…

"I don't know. Let's go to the King." Navi replied. "What?"

"We are at the King." I answered, motioning to the red crystal that had the King inside. "Looks like the prescription for the Goron has to wait." I then ran to the path that led to the King. I tried to free him but it didn't work so I went to the entrance that was behind him.

I arrived at Zora's Fountain where Lord Jabu-Jabu once stood or came. I jumped on the ice platforms though I slipped and fell on my butt when I reached the third platform. When I went to jump on the second platform, I slipped and missed my landing so I plunged myself into the water.

The water was so cold that I felt that my lungs were cut off. Shuddering greatly, I swam towards the surface to get rid of the coldness that entered my body. I then pulled myself up on the slippery ice before shuddering nonstop. Navi looked at me worriedly as she tried to help me in anyway.

"Link? You alright? You alive?" Navi panicked, seeing my lips turning a pale blue.

"I-I'm f-fine." I shuddered.

After that, I resumed to jump on the ice platforms until I got out of the ice covered lake and into the dark entrance. The place I was in looks like an ice cavern; actually, it is an ice cavern since it had icicles and the path and walls were covered with ice and snow.

I smashed one of the stalagmites that were sticking up on the ice ground before continuing down the path while avoiding the icicle that fell down in attempt to hit me. Weird moans that sounded more of a growl were heard as I went further in. I entered the new area that was filled with ice and what it looked like ice statues monsters that breathed out ice so I narrowly avoided them.

The three ice monsters died down before getting out of the room until I reached the next room with what it looked like an ice propeller. After destroying some couple of objects, the door to the next room got unlocked.

I did a somersaulted to dodge the dangerous stalagmite that fell down and nearly stabbed me before I jumped into the air to do a jump attack on the ice monster. Sooner or later, I found myself into another chamber that had ice platforms and paths to go on. I then curiously stared at the flaming object that laid ahead.

It looked like fire but only blue.

"What is that?" I asked. "Like what does it do?"

Navi shrugged. "I don't know but all I know is that is a blue fire…it doesn't seem natural. Maybe you can use it for something?"

Thinking, I got out an empty bottle and grabbed some blue fire. And then, I went all the way back so that I had reached the ice propeller room. Seeing a strange red wall that covered a part of the wall, I took out the bottle that contained the blue fire so that the red wall could be set on fire.

I watched as the blue fire started to engulf the red and soon, it melted away to reveal a passage. I went in to discover more of blue fire and gathered some more of them, just in case.

As I went further in, one of the Ice Keeses blew its cold ice wind so naturally, it froze me…Navi wasn't happy about that as she kept on muttering something about me being stupid. I have such a nice guardian fairy, don't I? When the ice touched me, it felt like I was dead frozen. You know…like you're slightly still alive but only just. My heart stopped beating and felt the oxygen getting colder which made it harder for me to breath.

This reminded me when I was frozen in Time. The ice finally broke by itself, allowing me to be free but I was shuddering with cold badly. I hope I would never get frozen again.

When I came into a new room, I was locked in.

"Wolfos." I moaned. If anything, those creatures are the ones I despise the most. Spotting its prey, the Wolfo ran around in a semi-circle but then changed the direction. I took out my arrow to shot it though the enemy avoided before it started to lunge at me.

I didn't had enough time to block it so I was sent down to the ground, wrestling a Wolfos.

"Geroff me!" I replied, wrestling him. Sometimes, I would be on top of him and sometimes he would be on top of me, hoping to snap my neck with its sharp teeth. At one point, when I was on top of him, I took out my sword and tried to stab him at his throat. But, the Wolfos proved to have intelligence as it snatched the sword away with its sharp teeth and threw it away, leaving me nearly defendless.

"That wasn't nice!" I exclaimed. Of course, the Wolfos didn't care. I suddenly cried out in pain when its sharp teeth sunk just close to my neck. It was between my shoulder and the neck. No; it didn't reach the neck…just between the neck and the shoulder.

I pressed on the wound with my hand, letting my hand to get bloodied. The Wolfos scrambled up before running away from me to give itself a good distance so that it could attack me. However, I noticed this and with one hand clutching the wound, I slid on the ice to grab the sword and then, the beast lunged at me but with the right timing, I stabbed the foe into the chest.

I winced when I had to twist the sword in order to completely kill it. The animal let out a howl of pain before it succumbed to its death. Panting lightly, I still pressed the wound with my hand so it wouldn't bleed that much.

A few minutes had passed and the wound had stopped bleeding significantly which I was thankful for. I could still see the mark of the Wolfos imprinted on my skin. Stupid Wolfos.

A chest appeared and I went to it to grab the item. Once I did that, I immediately got back down to the floor due to its weight.

"The hell?" I muttered, looking at the odd item.

Navi sniggered at my lame attempt of holding them up. It was boots that seemed to be made completely out of iron. No wonder I fell back down.

"What is it?" Navi asked.

"It's boots that seemed to be made of iron." I replied.

"Iron boots?" Navi suggested.

Going with that name, I latched them on my feet and…it felt so damn heavy! It felt like it wanted to rip my feet apart! And it also felt like my feet were stuck in new fresh cement.

"Well?"

"They're (a grunt) horrible (a grunt)." I replied, taking one leg at a time. When I had enough of it, I took them off and placed them in my handy dandy bag.

"We meet again, Link…" the voice replied making me to jump with startle and to draw out my sword.

Being quick, the figure captured the blade in its hand not letting a single scratch on the person. My eyes widened when I saw who it was.

"Sheik?" I asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?" Being loosen, I felt Sheik releasing my sword out of his grasp so that I could place it back in its proper place.

"I've come here to tell you that if you came here to meet the Zoras, you wasted your time…This is all there is…With one exception, the Zoras are now sealed under this thick ice sheet…I managed to rescue the Zora princess from under the ice, but…she left to head for the Water Temple…"

"I swear that woman is insane." I muttered, earning a smile from Sheik.

"This ice is created by an evil curse…The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. Unless you shut off the source, this ice will never melt…If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zoras, I will teach you the melody that leads to the temple."

It surprises me that he knows a whole lot of songs and such. Where did he learn them? And…something is still bothering me about him. It felt like I had met him before…but where?

"Time passes, people move…Like a river's flow, it never ends…A childish mind will turn to noble ambition…Young love will become deep affection…The clear water's surface reflects growth…Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself…"

Like the all other times, he took out his harp and played the melody followed by me except this time, I felt my mind wandering off as the scene in my head started to form. It was filled with darkness but a warm darkness with blue sparkles floating and flying.

The scene vanished, showing that I was back in the ice cavern.

"You know what's weird?" I asked with a dry laugh.

"What?"

"It's the fact that I felt I had met you somewhere…" I replied, noticing how he fidgeted which made my suspicious to rise.

What's up with him?

The air held the thick silence before he spoke that he will see me again then disappeared from the Deku Nut.

The most uncomfortable feeling was that I had to force myself to plunge into the ice cold water again while wearing those boots in order for me to sink. It was unpleasant, needless to say. I wish that I would never have to do it again. I could also tell that my time for air was running short so (with slightly blurry vision) I unlatched the boots and quickly swam to the surface.

I gasped, coughing out the "cold air" I had swallowed. Taking eager gulps of air, I started to swim towards the ground once I had enough of air. Things can never seem to be easy on me, can they?

Looking down, the box trap went around in circles hoping to hit its intruder but with a jump, I jumped to the side of the wall in order to reach the path I needed to go. The Ice Cavern was completed the moment I exited out of it and found myself at Zora's Fountain.

I then entered Zora's Domain by going to a cave that was nearby. Or maybe not since the King that was inside the red crystal was there. I melted the red crystal with the help of the blue fire and talked to the King.

"Oh—I've come back to life!" the King shuddered, not liking the idea of being frozen. Don't worry; I don't like to be frozen either. "Was it you who saved me? Don't be nervous!"

I nodded. "Yes it was."

"It looks like you have a hard time breathing underwater. As an expression of my gratitude, I grant you this tunic. With this, you won't choke underwater."

He handed me a blue tunic that was called the Zora's Tunic. I curiously stared at the odd tunic before thanking the King then reminded myself to change into it. Like the same thing with my other tunic, it has a white suit underneath it before the blue tunic was placed over it. Oh and it has the same floppy hat except it was blue.

I then thought about the Goron with the prescription for the eye drops so I took that out.

"Ooh…This is…well…hmmm…Hmmm…Eye drops…You might say we have them, you might say we don't…We do have the ingredients. If you take the ingredients to the doctor at the lake laboratory, he can make the drops for you. But you need to deliver them fresh…Can you make it before they spoil?"

"Possibly." I answered. "Only time will tell."

Nodding, he handed me the Eyeball Frog which made me to cringe at it. Having the time limit which was set within three minutes, I ran fast to get out of the place. Sooner or later, I found myself on Epona and quickly urged to go faster as my time limit was somewhere one minute.

"Come on girl." of course, Epona was understandable and sensed my urgency which was why we arrived at Lake Hylia at fifty six seconds. I found the Lakeside Laboratory and pulled out the item.

"It looks like this item doesn't work here…" the owner mumbled.

"What?!" I cried out. But then, I shoved the item into its face. Completely. I knew the item had worked now since the owner's eyes went wide.

"Oh, wow!" it exclaimed. "I haven't seen an Eyeball Frog like this since Zora's Domain froze over! These eyeballs are so delicious! Tonight I will cook fried eyeballs for the first time in a long time! Uhoy hoy hoo houy hoy! Such great stuff! Please say thank you to King Zora!"

"Sorry but I was hoping if you could use the item for eye drops." I replied, seeing the person being deflated with disappointment.

"Eh? What? For Biggoron's Eye drops? Oh, how disappointing! You should have said so in the first place!" mumbling, he grabbed the item to make the eye drops then he turned around to hand me the eye drops.

That was quick.

"Here it is. This medicine doesn't have any preservatives in it. So it won't last long at this temperature. Run as fast as you can to Death Mountain. You're young—you can do it!"

The eye drops were held in a crystal glass. Having the time limit which was four minutes, I started to run to Epona so that we could set off to Death Mountain. So the huge Goron is Biggoron…well then…

"NO!" I shrieked, making a dive and got there. Nineteen seconds…not bad…

The big Goron mumbled before turning around to spot me.

"Ahoy down there!" the Goron boomed.

"Hi!" I shouted. "I got you the eye drops."

"Rrrrreally? You brrrought them? I'm so rrrrrelieved! I'm going to use them rrrriight now!"

You know, the way he speaks, one might think that he was drunk or something.

I climbed on the cliffs to reach him but using his big arms, he grabbed the eye drops when I placed it on my hands. I swear: a Goron using eye drops is just plain weird…The sound of the liquid from the eye drops echoed around the place as he placed the liquid into his eyes. I slightly cringed when he does it; how can he put those?

"Woowwwwwwwww!" he exclaimed after he finished them. "This is stimulating! It's worrrrrking grrreat! Now I can get back to my blade business! My worrrrk is not verrry consistent, so I'll give this to you so you won't forrrrget. Afterrr a few days…Please returrrrn…Wait, just wait patiently…" he then gave me his sword that looked like it was in a stone or something…

I played the Sun's song a few times before the Goron replied when I talked to him. Yeah, I was that impatient.

"I maaade thisss…Trrrade for claimmm check…" I then showed him the item he gave to me before. "That sword is my fine work." he then handed me the Claim Check and got the Biggoron's Sword that was made by a master smith and it wouldn't break.

Being lazy, I played the Serenade of Water to warp myself to Lake Hylia where it rained. What? I didn't feel walking—or riding—all the way here…I want to break the curse on the Water Temple as soon as possible and unfortunately, to rescue Princess Ruto…again…I swear all girls are helpless…

…why are you looking at me like that?

"When water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light." morning light…? I thought about it while furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. I have to…hit the sun? How does that work?

Wouldn't it burn my arrows? I don't know anymore…

I finally found the Water Temple and after much protesting and arguing with Navi with the Zora's Tunic. Yes, I was scared that it might malfunction and whatnot but Navi won and that was why I was currently underwater with the help of Iron Boots, hitting the switch to the gate so that it could be opened.

I then went inside.

Water Temple, here I come.


	16. Something Illusionary

**Shout out: **Thanks to James Birdsong for reviewing

Chapter 14: Something Illusionary

I took the boots off in order to swim to the surface and when I did, I was still surprised that I was still alive…But anyways, I got out of the water and onto the firm path that led to what it looked like a door. Of course, I couldn't exactly tell what it was as the room I was currently at was dark except for the light that shone on the door.

I jumped into the water (while ignoring the frog-spider like creature that hopped on the water) to get to where I wanted. I then did some things underwater such as pulling the large crate to its destination before getting out the hookshot to hook onto the target.

I again put the iron boots (these things are becoming a pain in the butt) to walk around underwater so that I could latch the hookshot onto the target. It was across from me, just where the entrance of spikes was. By entrance of spikes, I meant that the spikes were on the floor and were on the ceiling.

I spotted some flat with thin tail creatures that got destroyed from the hookshot. I got out of the water after targeting the hooks but only to find that I didn't really need to do anything here so I went back into the water of where I came from.

I then followed the twisted path only to stop as a figure was ahead of me, leaving a bit of a distance between us.

"Who are you?" I tried to ask but only bubbles came out.

"Oh…you…If I'm right…Link?!" the figure exclaimed with recognition.

I curiously stared at the Zora. That much I knew…but who…My eyes widened when I realized who she was.

"Ruto…?" I asked, dumb-founded but of course the Zora tunic didn't provide the ability to speak underwater.

She giggled, knowing that I had figured it out who she was. "Yes. It's me, your fiancée, Ruto! Princess of the Zoras!"

I widened my eyes with shock and confusion…the heck? Fiancée! If I could speak underwater, I would be shrieking right now. Fiancée?! What do you mean fiancée?!

"What?!" I muffled due to the water…

"I never forgot the vows we made to each other seven years ago!" she started.

What vows?!

I then remembered.

"_My mother gave it to me and said I should give it only to the man who will be my husband. You might call it the Zora's Engagement Ring."_

Oh Goddesses…I numbly stared at Ruto who continued to talk.

What had I gotten myself into?

"You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting for these seven long years…"

Well, I'm terribly sorry for being frozen in time…You should do it, sometimes. It's fun! Notice the sarcasm.

"But now is not the time to talk about love…I'm sure you've already seen it! Zora's Domain—totally frozen! A young man named Sheik saved me from under the ice…" I moaned inwardly. Sheik, you have made a terrible mistake. "But my father and the other Zoras have not…yet…I want to save them all! I want to save Zora's Domain! You! You have to help me!"

"I'm not sure if I'm the one to do that. I don't know if I could even break the curse the Water Temple has." I sighed, seeing the bubbles. Something about this temple makes me…uncomfortable. Like it was as if something was watching my every movement…

"This is a request from me, the woman who is going to be your wife! Link, you have to help me destroy the evil monster in the Temple, Ok?!"

Does that mean she has to tag along with me? Oh please no…

"Inside the Water Temple, there are three places where you can change the water level. I'll lead the way. Follow me, quickly!"

She started to swim towards the surface, disappearing from the sight. Sighing, I followed her. But the moment I entered a room, it got slammed shut. I spotted the little critters that were round and had spikes from each side. I spotted how they immediately retract their spines and stiffen into idle rocks but it was only for a brief moment.

Navi told me to aim it when it retracts its spikes. Though, I was a bit too late on that since they showed their spikes again. When they were back in rocks, I took out my hookshot to kill them. Within seconds, they were killed.

I got back out to see a picture of the Triforce so I took out my Ocarina of Time to play Zelda's lullaby and saw that the water got drained. I jumped, doing a quick somersault to have a safe landing before getting out my bow to shoot at what it looked like a curtain and such through the fire of the torch. Once I got the "bullseye", the metal bars on the door opened after I struck the other object. Clam-like enemies were in the next room when I went through the entrance. They opened its massive jaw to reveal the internal muscle, automatically having me to figure that it was the weak point.

They were killed within seconds from the hookshot. A chest appeared out of thin air and I went to grab the item from it which was a small key. I grunted when the minute I got out of the room to the next got locked from the metal bars that slid down.

It felt weird to not have this part of the temple not to be flooded with water. The ground had soft ground that looked like sand and then I went through the path that was found in this area. Seeing a floor that looked like it needs to be blown up, I took out the bomb and place it on the floor while moving away.

I don't want to be blown up, thanks.

After it got blown up, I jumped into the hole to be submerged into water and very painfully, I forced myself to put on the iron boots. Huh, maybe I should've placed the boots before I jumped in…

Oh well, too late anyway.

Again, I spotted the clam-like creatures once I finished placing the boots on but it was destroyed. And then with many twists and turns, I got to a spot where it had a switch. Once pressed it, the water level started to rise up so I quickly went on the platform that was beside it though the platform seemed to be a bit higher.

Seeing the target, I got out my hookshot to grab it on so that I could be on the other side where two spider frog-like creatures hopped towards me. I decided to try out the Biggoron's sword and with a quick swish, those two were killed. I frowned…I like the Master Sword better.

I jumped into the water to descend down into another hole and soon I was back in an area that had the sand but probably in a different part. Pushing the crate, the box sunk down to the bottom just as I did.

One thing's for sure, this temple is somehow…different than the other ones I had been through. For the first time, I actually like this temple…

But of course, that might not be permanent…

Hitting the crystal switch in the next room triggered the water geyser to get up since there was a large gap between me and the door that was ahead of me. Timing it right, I rode on the water geyser to reach the door.

The next room was filled with a pool of water that has a rushing current going around in circles. Seeing the water, I painfully placed the iron boots back on before jumping into the water.

I also saw another crystal switch in a creature's statue mouth which got activated from the hookshot. The opening of the door got opened though I had to use the hookshot to reach the target in that room.

I quickly demolished the two clam foes before I could get back to my work…which soon got me another small key. I opened the gate that was underwater from the crystal switch that was on land then went back into the water. I then rose myself to the surface where it had the current.

It proved to be difficult to get on the land since the water current would always make me to miss the land. On the fifth try, I finally got on the ground then exited out of the room, only to find that I was back in the room of where it had that large gap.

I also got out of the room with the hookshot to reach the other side then jumped into the water…yet again and then targeted the target with the hookshot.

Ugh, I hate this temple now! They're just so many floors and water that it's just ugh! So frustrating! Something told me that it would get worse later on…and as well as repeatedly putting on those iron boots. I then got back to a room where it had the sand but this time though I was able to enter the building the stood in the middle of the room.

I entered in after unlocking it and found that there were spikes between the path. Seeing a target at a higher point, I used it with the hookshot then got out the Ocarina to play Zelda's Lullaby. A box started to rise into the air from underwater then reached the surface.

It was then that I noticed that it was the water level that got changed; it rose. Nevertheless, I sunk down with iron boots on and touched the path before sinking deeper into the water.

Going through another path, I spotted the crystal switch to trigger it but the spike enemies started to swim towards me as it released its spikes. All good things had to come to an end when I was carelessly fighting them.

I really need to look around more.

I cried out when one of the spike enemies pierced its spike at my shoulder—my sword arm—making it to be stiff. Grunting, I grimaced when I had to pull it out so that I had to defeat the enemies.

Once they were all done, a gate from the upper surface went down to reveal the entrance. I pulled myself out of the water to lay on the ground on my back.

I whimpered, clutching the wound to stop the bleeding as I curled myself into a ball while my body started to shiver due to the cold air that lingered in the temple. I knew I was going to be sick one way or another.

Navi stared at me with a sympathy look as I softly whimpered the words.

"I hate this."

The bleeding had stopped significantly so I was able to continue the temple even though my shoulder felt like someone had jabbed a needle it and carelessly took it out, causing my arm to be stiff…

I snorted: there goes the irony.

I grunted when I got blown away from the bomb. I just wasn't fast enough to avoid it so I fell into the water. Muttering, I hastily got out of the water and into the entrance in which the bomb had blown. Then, I went in the room to grab the key in the chest.

I rode on the water geyser after I hit the crystal switch until I reached my spot. But when I got into a room, the door slammed shut. I spotted the picture that had the Triforce and played Zelda's lullaby to raise the water level in this room.

In the new room, I had entered the water looked like a nearly lopsided waterfall or maybe that was just me…Taking out my hookshot, the targets got targeted so that I could climb higher.

I cringed when I saw the monster-eating creature…the creature where I got swallowed and um…took my shield…yeah, that's it…

"Don't get swallowed." Navi cackled as she remembered the scene all too well.

I groaned before throwing the bombs in its mouth two times while Navi muttered cheater until I pointed it out that there were spikes in front of me, blocking my path to reach the other side.

…It was until she mentioned that there was a target on the ceiling, causing me to mutter. I reached the other side then entered the room.

The new room looked odd. It looked sort of like an illusionary room that appeared to be a misty pond-like area with a tree in the center of the room. It was also filled with water but it just touched the base of my feet. Seeing a door ahead of me, I ran towards though I found it was barred shut.

I heard Navi gasped so I started to ask her what's wrong.

"Navi, what's—"

"Link, watch out!" before I could even turn fully, something made me to pass out.

Great.

* * *

_I moaned as I woke up, having a blurry vision but then it got cleared up. I started to get up but only to have something pointing at my chest. It gleamed from the light that the room gave._

_I looked up and gasped._

_There, in front of me, stood a person that looked like it was completely made out of darkness…like shadow…However, that wasn't what threw me off. The thing that threw me off was that it looked like…like…_

_Me. _

_Just more evil with its red eyes and a twisted smile._

"_Hello, _Heroic _Link."_

I gasped, jolting wide awake from that odd scene.

"Navi!" I cried out as I felt something running down my forehead. I used my fingertips and found out that it was blood.

I didn't randomly pass out; someone made me to pass out by hitting on my head.

"Link, thank the goddesses you're alive!" Navi cried out.

"I don't understand…I dreamt of something while I was passed out. It felt so weird."

"What did you dreamt about?" Navi asked, cautiously.

What's up with her?

"I don't know but…I know it will sound insane…I was fighting…_me…_"

Navi stared dumb-founded at me before nervously replying.

"O-oh?"

"And then he pinned—well not really—with his sword…what is up with you?" I demanded, seeing clearly that something is making Navi to be nervous.

"Don't look now, Link but I think you didn't dream that."

"What?" I whipped my head around only to find something pointed touching my chest dangerously. It gleamed from the light that the room gave.

"Hello, _Heroic Link_." the voice spoke the words with venom.


	17. More trouble arises

**Shout out: **Thanks to Yami no Nokutan. Trust me: it will get worse.

Chapter 15: More trouble arises

I froze as I watched the dark figure staring back at me with its cold eyes. I didn't need to know who it was…it was the dark me…

Or in this case—

Dark Link.

"How—you…" I trailed off.

"Even the Hero has nothing to say." it hissed, making the tip of the sword to point harshly at my chest.

"Well what do you want me to say anyway? Hi, I'm Link and you must be Dark Link. Nice to meet you." I replied, sarcastically.

Dark Link glared while plastering on a sneer on his face at my sarcastic respond. Tough, if he can't handle it.

"You're cocky for a Hero."

I rolled my eyes. "So I've been told…can you get the sword out of the way?"

"Nope." he responded by pointing the sword further that I swear he was trying to make a hole…

Thinking, I carefully took out a Deku Nut hoping to be unnoticed. I hope you know what I'm going to do…I really don't need to explain it do I? When I spotted he didn't notice it, I threw the Deku Nut as I heard him snarling from the unexpected blinding light.

The light died down but he widened his eyes with frustration when he saw me that I was gone. Just as he was about to move, something touched his neck. He laughed, a dark one, that sent shivers down my spine.

"Don't move." I replied in a low voice.

"Or what? Are you going to kill me? You don't even have the guts to do it, kid." in a blink of an eye, he swiftly ducked down to avoid the edge of the blade then twirled around so that he was behind me. He then pressed his sword against my throat.

"You're annoying for a mini boss." I grunted when I felt the edge of the blade was pressed a bit harder against my throat.

He hissed. "What move you make, I make. What you think, I think."

"If that's true, then you would be able to block this, wouldn't you?" before he could reply, I elbowed him in the stomach as he heard him grunting. I then did a twirl around to do a jump attack but he quickly blocked it and turned it into clashing.

We both glared at each other hatefully that if looks could kill, we both would already be dead.

I shoved him harshly and when he stumbled back a bit, I swiftly ducked down to stuck my leg out to trip him which caused him to fall on the water. I started to perform a move but the evil me rolled to one side then to other to avoid my attacks until he got up to tackle me down…only to have my neck being pressed against the blade…

Again…

"Game over." he replied, fixing his glare on me.

"For you maybe." I lifted my two feet up so that they could be pressed on his stomach and then I flipped him over, making him to be on the other side of me. He grunted when he collided against the ground and I took this chance to get up.

"Not bad, kid." he muttered before doing a jump attack though I did a backflip to avoid it.

I also noticed the sword he carried. It nearly resembled like the Master Sword but just more wicked and has a lot of black. Biting my lip, I was stupidly enough to actually go closer to me which was why I felt the tip of his sword slicing across my front chest.

The other really frustration moment was that when he and I blocked each other's attacks, he did a semi-circle of his sword on mine to get rid of my attack. But that's not the frustrating moment. When he did the semi-circle movement, the sound of the scraping blades echoed around the room and then he decided to pin my sword on the ground to quickly obtain it before I could.

"Impressive sword, I might add." Dark Link spoke, examining the blade of evil's bane.

"That's my sword! Give it back!" I commanded, hearing him chuckle.

"You actually think that _this_ would defeat the greatest evil?" he laughed darkly. "Cute."

I narrowed my eyes at him as he threw the sword back to me. "Of course it will. This sword is from the legend that's been told a thousand times. You remember it, don't you?"

"Obviously I do. I'm not some old crack pot fool…" he paused. "You remind me of one anyway."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, gripping tightly on the hilt.

"Aww did I offend the wittle baby?" he mocked.

Growling, I leaped into to perform the jump attack two times before actually making a scratch on his cheek. That was one move he wasn't able to avoid. I sneered at him as he held the cut that oozed black blood.

"Aww did I hurt the wittle baby?" I taunted him back.

Growling as well, he started to attack me but before he could even perform it, Navi randomly came out of the blue and started to blind him. He snarled with irritation from the blinding light.

It was then that I remembered that shadows hate light.

"Yeah, go Navi!" being blinded from the bright light, Dark Link tried to swat the pesky little fairy that zipped around him until he got an idea which was by bringing his sword to when she least expect it. Widened my eyes, I called out to Navi but my warning came too late and with horror eyes, I watched Dark Link swinging his sword to slice at her side.

"Navi!" I cried out, seeing her flying through the air then skidded on the ground. I could see the light that was on her started to slightly dim.

Angered, I attacked Dark Link tenfold so that he would be exhausted. Having enough of this, he used my strategy to disappear from the Deku Nut. Copycat. When I sensed that he wasn't around anymore, I ran towards my fallen fairy who seemed to be struggling to get up.

I didn't care that I probably skinned my knee; I was too focused on Navi.

"Navi…" I whispered, instantly having tears in my eye.

"Li…nk…?" she whimpered softly clutching the wound with her tiny hand. "It…hurts…"

"Don't move. It will hurt more. Just stay still." I whispered though I stared at her blood…It was…blue…?

I ripped a piece of my sleeve to wrap the wound around her tiny body. It was difficult to do so as she had such a tiny body. But I managed to do so, earning a soft smile from her.

"I guess I know how it feels like when you get injured." Navi laughed softly but winced. "Hey…where's…Dark Link…?"

I was about to reply until something beat to me first.

"Right here." as I twirled around, I felt something sharp entering through a spot that was near my heart. It didn't strike the heart but a few centimeters away from the heart. That's what scared me the most since I felt like I couldn't move and everything around me suddenly stopped including the cries from Navi.

Gasping, the Dark Link threw a laugh before twisting it brutally then carelessly removed the sword out of the wound. I collapsed to the ground feeling my vision being blurry. The cold water gently touched my cheek but I was able to see Dark Link going towards Navi again.

As he brought his sword, I weakly spoke.

"Din's…Fire…" fire came out, racing towards Dark Link who had his eyes wide and then he screamed, a horrible one, as the fire licked his body.

I passed out.

* * *

"Link." the voice came. "Link."

No answer.

It sighed. "Wake _up, Link_."

Moaning, I fluttered my eyes open to see a blurry image at first then it got cleared.

"Wh…who are you?" I moaned at the discomfort from which the pain ran through my body.

Maybe I was imagining but the figure stared at me with shock. As if I was supposed to know who that person was.

"Try having your vision to be clearer then you will know." it told me.

I did just that before placing a smile.

"She…ik…?" I asked. Goddesses; it hurts to breath just as it hurts to even talk.

Nodding, he spoke. "Good to know you still remember me."

I quietly laughed. "Why…" I took a breath. "Why…are you…here…?"

It was silent before he spoke. "When I heard a scream, I instantly rushed to this place as I had figured it out. Looks like I came too late. This was some battle you had." he frowned. "Who was the mini-boss anyway?"

Grimacing, I answered. "Dark…Li…Li…nk…"

"Dark Link?" he quizzed incredulously. I nodded. "Man…" he whispered. "Some battle…Looks like the place in which you and Dark Link were got lifted."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Look around."

I slowly looked around and saw that the room in which Dark Link and I had battled wasn't there. There was still the water but the room disappeared. It was almost as if the room was…

"An illusion…" I winced, remembering that it still hurts to talk.

He nodded. "Now rest. I'll wake you up soon."

Going with that idea, I just surrendered to darkness.

* * *

I opened my eyes, temporarily having myself to be out of focused. I finally snapped myself back to normal.

"Hey, you're awake!" a cheery voice chirped.

"Sheik?" I replied. I was able to talk as it didn't hurt as much as it did before.

"Gee; thanks for calling me a guy's name." it remarked.

"Na…vi…?"

"Congrats!"

"Where's Sheik?"

"He left." she answered, bluntly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like hell. You?"

"Never been better. Sheik fixed up my wings and healed me by giving me a potion; specifically for fairies only."

"Fairy potion?" I asked wearily.

She nodded. "Yup!" she paused. "Do you have any potion?"

"I might. Why?"

"Maybe if you drink it, you would feel better."

I told her to check my bag though I rolled my eyes when she yelled, a muffle one, that I had a lot of stuff in there. Really now? After much grunting, I finally spotted the blue fairy that came out of my bag only to be struggling to get the bottle out. Amused, I helped her out by opening the bottle. I drank the foul potion and shuddered from the horrible taste.

I hate drinking potions. They were never my thing. I eased up when I felt the potion taking its place. I laid on the cold ground for a few hours until I was ready to go. Getting up was such a pain in the butt since I kept on releasing grunts of pain that would shoot in my body every now and then.

This was probably one of the worst major injuries I had ever gotten. People would be wondering how on Hyrule I had gotten it. Oh you know: I battled myself. Don't know about you but I think people would stare at me as if I was insane…

Dark Link really did do a good job of wounding me. I fell on the ground at least twice since apparently, he had somehow messed up my body…Ugh; when I see him again (hopefully I wouldn't), I'll be sure that _I _would be the one to hurt him.

Badly.

I walked towards the door and found a chest in the room. The item in the chest resembled much like the Hookshot but more of an upgraded one, it would seem. Might as well call it the Longshot; I snorted at the name.

Looking down at the floor, I decided to play the Song of Time. It worked since the piece of the floor disappeared and I went to jump down.

"Link! Be careful! Don't get swallowed by the vortexes!"

I started to panic when I felt myself being sucked towards the vortex. Even with the iron boots on, I still managed to get nearly swiped away. Seeing an edge of the cliff, I grabbed that so I wouldn't be swallow from it. I cringed when I had to force myself to walk around it…

Somehow…

After many attempts (such as nearly being swallowed from it) I made it to the other side.

I thought about something before deciding not to use the iron boots as that would be a bad idea. Such as, what happens if I got whisked away from the vortex then get swallowed? It would be bad if I wore the iron boots…

I was then close enough to the eye switch so I hit it with the arrow. The eye switch allowed the gate to lift itself up and I thought about targeting the chest. I gave a startled gasp when I felt it pulling towards it so quickly that I was soon there. The moment I reached where the chest was, the gate closed down.

I grabbed the small key that was inside of it.

One or two days must've passed and I was still in this hellhole. I didn't know how much I could handle this so I was worried on how I was going to fight the big boss, seeing of how much limit I have.

After much exploring of the temple, I finally arrived at the big boss…and after getting hopelessly lost many times in order to find the Big Key but the important thing is that we had arrived at the big boss.

The room was a very large area with a medium size pool as it contained platforms to get on. I ran one on of the platform just as Navi exclaimed that thing isn't normal.

What's not normal?

Something started to bubble underneath the water as it slowly slithered its way towards it prey since it had sensed it. Once it spotted, it swam towards the surface though I was unaware that it was coming from behind me.

"Where is the boss?" I asked.

I turned around to see a large monster that seemed to be completely made out of water with something red-ish in it. The blue creature sunk back down though the red circle came out of it, hopping around the platform I was currently standing at before submerging itself into the water.

I jumped back to the main ground in order to get a better look at it. It swirled around in circles and Navi told me that it was called a nucleus. I missed the first shot and then the blue creature came back to swallow it inside.

Aiming it right, I took the nucleus out of its body from the longshot and attacked it as many as I could with my sword before it went back into sea creature's body. The blue creature slithered towards a corner that was closer to me so I was being too focused on the nucleus and didn't see its tentacle grabbing my waist.

I screamed as it twirled me around in the air before throwing me, having me to slam against the wall hard. I gasped at the hard impact as I saw stars around me while I fell on the ground with my knees. Damn it. I was able to attack its nucleus the second time before it retreated back in its "body".

At one point, I forced myself to jump on the platform that was scattered on the pool but my jump wasn't that great as I had fallen into the water. The blue creature sensed that its intruder was in its water and wasn't pleased with it so the great brute rammed itself hard against me, having me to collide against the wall.

It hurts since I still had that wound from Dark Link though before it can slam me again, I quickly swam back up to narrowly avoid the slamming tentacle. I felt its watery breeze as it flew past by me. Getting out of the water, I quickly took the nucleus out of its body and killed it at last.

The core burst into a spray of water while the tentacle panicked, clinging to life as long as it can by using up all the water in the central pool and by attempting to drain and escape through the ceiling as I watched it soaring upwards. It sucked all the water in the pool, the tentacle had culminate in a single water droplet on the ceiling and dropped to the floor, splattering in all directions.

By in all directions, that meant that it also struck me as well and I wasn't pleased one bit.

I finally got out of the temple for good and into the Chamber of Sages where a figure emerged from the blue symbol. It was Ruto who looked at me.

"Link…" she started. "I would have expected no less from the man I chose to be my husband. Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their original state. As a reward…I grant my eternal love to you."

I faintly smiled. Don't know if I should be honored…

"Well, that's what I want to say, but I don't think I can offer that now." she replied with a hint of sadness. "I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water…And you…You're searching for the princess, Zelda?"

I nodded. "Do you know where she is?"

I swore to myself that I had seen something else in Ruto's eyes. Was it…jealousy? I couldn't tell.

"Hah!" she smirked, triumphantly. "You can't hide anything from me! Princess Zelda…She's alive. I can sense it…so don't be discouraged."

I was relieved when she told me that.

"I can tell that nothing will stop you in your quest for justice and peace…You must take this Medallion…Take it respectfully!"

The blue Medallion floated into my hands. I then felt myself being teleported out of the chamber while hearing Ruto's voice echoing.

"If you see Sheik, please give him my thanks, ok?"

"As the water rises, the evil is vanishing from the lake…Link, you did it!" I watched the water that rose in its proper place while hearing the voice talking.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

I turned around and saw Sheik. "Sheik!" I exclaimed, happy to see him.

"Good to see that you're feeling better."

I smiled as I ran up to him. Before I could speak, he beat to me first.

"Did Ruto want to thank me?" he asked, guessing.

I nodded.

"I see…We have return peace to Hyrule for her sake, too. Don't we? Look at that, Link…" I glanced ahead of me of where he wanted me to look at.

"Together, you and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster! Once again, the lake is filled with pure water. All is as it was here."

I smiled as I saw the pure water that was back in Lake Hylia since I walked towards the edge of the ground to stare it. Sheik seemed to be staring at me deeply.

He decided to say something but changed his mind, quietly walking backwards to disappear. Sensing something, I turned around and saw Sheik wasn't here anymore. I let out a sad sigh and a sad smile. I wish he could be around more…

However, I heard something splashed in the water so I turned my head to that direction though it disappeared in the water. I thought about that riddle with the sun so I hit the sun…yeah, I know; it sounds weird and something came out of it, landing on the platform that was ahead of me.

I swam towards it and picked it up to discover that it was an arrow. I grinned as I realized what kind of an arrow it was.

It was Fire Arrows.

Sweet.

I then started to head to Kakariko Village but the moment I entered the village, my eyes widened.


	18. The House of Death

Chapter 16: The House of Death

**Warning: **There WILL be a lot of blood in here since Link would be exploring the Shadow Temple so if you're paranoid about blood, then do not read this chapter…and possibly the next chapter. So…there wasn't that much blood in here but there will definitely be in the next chapter.

"Wh-what…happened?" I gasped at the terrible sight. The village was in ruins. Few houses were burnt down, sending its horrible smoke to the smoky black sky. The embers hungrily flickered as it ate through the wood of the buildings.

There were no sign of people, no sign of the joy that once ran throughout this village. I was suddenly angered just by staring hatefully at this sight. This nightmare.

"Link…there's someone there." Navi pointed to the figure that was ahead of me.

I squinted my eyes to see who it was but I could barely make out the form.

"You there!" I shouted. "Who are you?"

There was no reply from the mysterious person, making me to suddenly be very worried.

I ran towards him but stopped once I came closer to him. The figure looks very familiar…

"Get back, Link!" the voice ordered with such fierce that it made me to jump a little.

"Who are you?" I asked, cautiously.

"I said _get back, Link_!" the figure commanded.

Out of nowhere, the wood that covered the top of the Well suddenly broke as it was flying through the air making me to duck down so I wouldn't be hit from the wood. It smashed on the ground as I watched it doing so. All of a sudden, the mysterious person gasped, feeling something rising from the Well…

It looked like something invisible had grabbed his waist and I turned around to see that it was Sheik that got grabbed from the invisible force.

"No, Sheik!" I screamed, running up to him in order to save him.

But it was too late. The invisible force harshly threw him into the air, making him to smack the hard ground.

"Sheik!"

I ran towards him, hoping to see if he was alright. "Sheik!" I called his name again.

No answer.

With anger in my eyes, I looked to see a shadow slithering on a wall so I took out my sword to prepare to fight it. For a minute, it disappeared until it showed itself by crawling on the ground, slithering to its prey.

Unbeknownst to me, Sheik woke up and saw that the thing was coming right at us so I put up my shield hoping that it would block the terrible monster that lingered in this village. But, it wasn't strong enough as I felt it grabbing me while I screamed before being knocked out.

The only sound that was able to enter my mind before I passed out was someone screaming my name.

"LINK!"

* * *

Soft patterns came. _Pit pat, pit pat._ It only made those patterns it seemed. Softly moaning, I woke up to find rain splashing gently on my face as the moon shone down on me, having its moonlight rays piercing through the cloudy sky.

"Looks like you're coming around…" the voice replied as I shook my head to get everything in order.

"Wha…" I turned around to see Sheik kneeling beside me. Worry etched into his face.

"Sheik!" I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank the goddesses you're alive!"

He let out a faint smile. "Link…A terrible thing has happened! The evil shadow spirit has been released!"

"Evil…shadow spirit?" I asked as I watched the village. The rain had extinguished all the fire out, making me to slightly be at ease.

He nodded. "Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village, had sealed the evil shadow spirit in the bottom of the well…But the force of the evil spirit got so strong, the seal of the well broke, and it escaped into the world! I believe Impa has gone to the Shadow Temple to seal it again, but…she will be in danger without any help!"

"She's mad!" I cried out. "Has anyone tried to stop her?"

"I did. But she can be…stubborn. And when she wants to do something, she will do it."

"Stupid." I muttered. "Stupid. Stupid."

"Link!" Sheik's voice slightly startled me. "Impa is one of the six Sages. Destroy the evil shadow spirit and save Impa!"

"What? You mean I have to destroy something I couldn't see?!"

"Sorry. There is an entrance to the Shadow Temple beneath the graveyard behind this village. The only thing I can do for you is teach you the melody that will lead you to the Shadow Temple…This is the melody that will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time…Listen to this, the Nocturne of Shadow!"

The music nearly sounded eerie but at the same time, beautiful It was kind of a beautiful eerie if you know what I mean.

"Let me take care of the village! I'm counting on you, Link!" Sheik nodded.

At least, this time he didn't disappear. Or maybe not….

He disappeared.

I sighed as I took out the Ocarina to play the Nocturne of Shadow to wrap myself to the graveyard. My injuries will have to wait. Impa is more important. The thunder boomed as I arrived at the graveyard that gave the terrible ominous feeling.

I really do have a bad feeling about this…

I made my way down the stairs and into a tunnel-like building. There were unlit torches that looked like they were forming in a triangle. Thinking, I took out my Din's Fire. The familiar feeling rushed throughout my body as I unleashed the fire and within seconds, it lit all the torches.

It opened the gate that was ahead of me and I went through the dark entrance, not knowing what lay ahead of me. Not knowing the dangers of what I was about to handle.

When I entered the dark entrance, the first thing that I got was horrible dark vibes. Naturally. Navi jittery flew as if something would pop in front of us unexpectedly. I turned around a corner to see a target so I got out my longshot to get across.

_The Shadow will yield only to one with the eye of truth, handed down in Kakariko Village._

I knew it was talking about the Lens of Truth and then went further in. It was nearly a large chamber with poles being around in a circle while what it looked like some type of a machine was in the middle of the room.

I took a path to my left after doing a short circle then followed the linear path to open the door. I flinched when I saw the glowing green eyes on a frame when I reached the end of the hallway.

_One who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness._

I then turned another corner to meet with the same glowing eyes in the lit hallway.

_Shadow Temple…Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred…_

I really have a bad feeling, did I mention that?

I turned another corner to enter the entrance of the door. Of course, the door slammed shut from the metal bars. I stared at the crumpled looking figure so I went around it to be behind of the enemy. I attacked it the moment it woken up from its slumber.

A redead.

I got out of the room after defeating two more of the flying critters then went to the hallway of where it was lit and it had those creepy pictures telling what lay here and such.

_What is hidden in the darkness…Tricks full of ill will…You can't see the way forward…_

"I don't like this." Navi nervously replied.

"I know but I have to save Impa." I responded, earning a squeak from Navi.

I still hate going through walls and then I got locked in again after emerging through a wall to go into a room that was filled with those long, gangling arms with the sloppy hand in the center.

I started to attack the main hand since I knew what its strategy is so it shouldn't be a problem. After many hits on the hand, it was dead. A chest appeared out of thin air and went to grab the item. It looked exactly like the iron boots but just a bit…light. Instead of having the metal part beneath the boots, it had small decorative wings on the heels.

I then got out of the room and into the main creepy hallway.

_One who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness._

Loud moans and thumps would occur every now and then which made me to look around the hallway for the noise of where it came from. I found none and that caused me to be freaked out as I entered the next wall and through another door entrance.

I gave a jump when I saw creepy looking statue with a demonic smile on its but I slightly ignored it as I went through it in order to reach the room that lay behind it.

_Make my beak face the skull of truth. The alternative is descent into the deep darkness. _

I was back in the room where it had the lit torches and it had the statue in the middle of the room in which I had to turn it around. When I did made it to its spot, the gate opened or rather the mouth of the statue opened.

The hallway was creepy needless to say. In front of me, I could've sworn I saw something ghostly appearing in the room ahead of me but it disappeared the moment I entered the room.

The door got locked when I arrived at a room and defeated the redeads. I exited out of the room and found myself what it looked like a very large propeller that swung around. There were several boxes beside me and some just scattered across the floor.

I did some things in here such as dodging the propeller and collecting the item in order to open the locked door to grab the small key from the chest. The moment I entered the next room that resembled a short hallway, I gasped with startle as I saw that part of a wall was completely made out of skulls.

Dead, rotten skulls.

Though, it got destroyed after I used a bomb to blow it up and entered the next room.

Or rather the hallway.

It was a dark hallway and as I ran, something disgusting dripped on my shoulder.

"Ewww…" I cringed at the sight. It was someone's drool. "Ew. Ew. Ew!"

Something rammed into me so I flew back from the impact and realized that it was either a Skulltula or Skullwalltula…

It got defeated and I was able to continue the hallway.

However, I stopped a third of the hallway since there was a door* to my left and went inside. But, Navi didn't paid attention though only found out that I was missing. She found me going through a door, however, the door slammed shut forcing Navi to wait for me.

I wish I didn't because I shield my eyes from the horrible sight. At the bottom of the frame was a dead corpse but its head only stood out. Above the head had an weighted and angled sharp blade while the whole device consisted of a tall upright frame.

I spotted the crumpled body that was behind the strange device and it was only then that I realized that the head got chopped off. I stumbled backwards to get out of this place only to find that the door was locked.

"No!" I slammed my fist on the metal door. "No! Navi! Navi!"

Navi perked up when I called her name.

"Link!? You're alive! Why did you locked the door?!"

"I—"

"You didn't what, Link?" no answer. Navi suddenly started to panic. "Link! Link! What? Tell me! Are you there? Link!" she screamed, being freaked out.

A creepy silence fell, nearly causing Navi to fall in tears until a piercing scream came then the door got opened. Frightened endlessly, Navi flew away from the door and waited.

And finally, something stumbled out of the door to stare at Navi with its lifeless eyes before she realized that it was Link.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Link!"

The minute she said my name, I violently vomit blood. The little fairy shrieked at the sudden scene, being worried endlessly.

"Link!" she screamed. She checked my body if I had any wounds but found none. "Why are you all of a sudden coughing up blood?! Link! Answer me! Please!" she whispered. "Please!"

It was silent before I spoke; well, at least I tried to. My voice was hoarse as if I hadn't used it in a long time. I cleared my throat to speak this time.

"I…I don't know…" I replied, hoarsely. "I was just checking out the device it had in that room but…I got freaked out from the dead corpse since its head got cut off so I wanted to get out. I found out that the door was locked and I didn't lock it then a pair of glowing eyes just appeared in the room." I told her while staring at the floor that had my blood. When I didn't vomit any blood out, I then resumed to walk down the hallway.

Navi couldn't be any happier.

Two more spiders dropped down from the ceiling though they were quickly killed. I made an 'o' with my mouth as I saw a very large blade that went down as if it was ready to chop someone's head.

Timing it right, I made a mad dash and reached the other side unharmed.

Another spider dropped down which got destroyed whereas the large blade was also there just right behind the dead spider. Like before, I made a mad dash when it was available.

"Watch for the shadows of monsters that hang from the ceiling." Navi told me.

More of those dangerous blades came but this time, I had to jump a few gaps. I then fought a stalfo which got killed before resuming the tunnel. I used the Lens of Truth in order to find the missing platform to get out of this tunnel and into a dark hallway.

Then exited out of the propeller room and back to the tunnel of where those large blades existed. And then got into a new room then another tunnel in which I had used the Lens of Truth to get a large box out of the wall then followed the path of where those needle beds are.

I entered an entrance of the jail though it was a very bad idea as I had seen a dead corpse except its head looked like it got cut off completely. I stared in horror at the dead corpse before Navi told me to look on the wall. It appeared to have writing on it but it's written in blood.

I walked towards it to examine the words while Navi jittered nervously. When I was reading through them, I felt like eerie creepy ghost-like voices were reading it to me. It was as if the voice from the past was reading it to me, letting the images flowing through my mind. Unknown to me, I was slowly being in a trance.

_My blood will forever taint in your hands. You will never sleep peacefully. My pleading cries will haunt you for the rest of your life. Your fault…You did this to me!_

_Get out! Don't ever come back! Vermin! Traitor!_

_Murderer!_

_Your execution will be set in two days at sunset…_

_Bones of anger, bones to dust  
full of fury, revenge is just…_

_With these bones I now do crush  
Make thine enemy turn to dust  
torment, fire, out of control  
With this hex I curse your soul!_

There were scattered drawing bones on the dusty wall, representing the enemy turning to dust.

"Link, snap out of it!"

With a gasp, I pulled myself back into the reality. Wh-what…just happened?

"You okay?" Navi asked, concerned as she saw me pale as a ghost.

"Y-yeah…I'm fine." I spoke before glancing at the bloodied words then got out of the cell.

I then climbed on the large box to get on the high platforms in order to press the switch so that I could grab the small key.

I completed the tunnel then entered a large nearly empty chamber. It had bookshelves and tables that got turned over though only one of them didn't got turned over. The curtains creepily hung on the ledges of the smashed window until a shriek came which made me to turn around and saw Navi whimpering with fear.

"Navi…?"

"There's blood on the curtains." Navi moaned, getting closer to me.

I looked at the curtains to see that there were blood but there were also some blood on the floor. Everything about the chamber was in ruins. However, there was something that caught my interest.

An old book that was nearly torn laid opened and I walked towards it. I picked it up to read the very old texts that seemed to be slowly fading away. It looked some kind of enchantments but one of them seemed to catch my attention.

"Looks like this book has all sort of enchantments." I replied, running the words with my fingers.

"Great. Can we put them down and let's go?" Navi quizzed as she didn't like this room one bit.

"Scaredy-cat. It's just harmless enchantments. They're not real, you know." I responded.

Glaring, Navi replied briskly. "Fine then! Read one of those enchantments if you're not scared!" she challenged, making me to smirk.

"Alright." I flipped through the pages until I found one. "Through mist and shadow, smoke and flame, in this portal of glass I speak your name. I call forth Bláthmhac to communicate with me. As this candle flame burns, so mote it be!" I chanted.

Nothing happened for a while until a sudden gust of wind flew in, flipping the papers from the books here and there including the one I was holding. I cautiously glanced around the room then turned around as I heard a fire being lit on the candle. Everything then died down.

"That was…"

"Strange." I finished Navi's sentence who nodded mutely. "Let's go. All of a sudden, the bad vibe in here just got stronger." I placed the book on the table then got out of the room by going through the entrance after I unlocked the door that was also in this room.

Little did I know, someone was watching me.

When we got out of the room, Navi and I joked about the enchantment I made.

"That was just plain hilarious. I mean like who would even keep those lame enchantments?" I asked.

"I dunno. The dead."

We laughed about the jokes we made.

"This is too good to be true." I chuckled.

"Yeah, you—"

All of a sudden, Navi's light went out and that's when I got scared as I heard a scream.

Author's Note: So I actually had a help with those enchantments and the writing on the wall such as bones to dust. But the ones that says my blood will forever taint in your hands and things like that are created by me. So…who else got freaked out when Link all of a sudden vomit blood? Oh yeah: the device in what Link was talking about was the guillotine—a machine that is used to chop people's head off because it's easier that way. And that door that led to the room of where the guillotine laid, let's just say I randomly stuck a random room…More creepy stuff is the next chapter ;p


	19. Villains don't get a happy ending

Chapter 17: Villains don't get a happy ending

Groaning, I fluttered my eyes open though I only found out that I was in a new room that was large. The rough stones were made similar to marbles but different. Maybe it was made out of marbles but it got rusted over time or something like that.

I shivered since I noticed that the room got breezy suddenly.

Where am I?

I moved though I found myself I didn't even move an inch so I looked up and saw that I was chained up. Ah, no wonder I felt the breezy wind; I was half naked…um…Navi was nowhere to be found which got me worried seeing that she wasn't stable by herself. No offense.

"_You have awakened." _a haunted voice echoed throughout the room.

"So I have." I responded, dryly.

"_What business do you have here?"_

I looked around to see the source of the voice but found none.

"Things. Now, are you going to be a coward or can you actually make an appearance?" I asked.

Silence.

"_None!"_ the sudden echo-y voice exclaimed as it appeared right in front of me though in a blink of an eye, it vanished. "_You humans have no business here! Your kind destroyed my race! You destroyed me! And this is what I had become!" it screamed, revealing itself._

It was a blurry misty figure that was covered with a black cloak while two piercing red eyes were shown. It resembled more of a spirit, if anything.

I stared at the ghostly spirit creature. "Uh…who are you?"

"_I am Bláthmhac_,_ you fool! The one who you had summoned me! Where you and your blue friend made jokes. But don't worry," _the bizarre unearthly spirit placed a twisted smile on its face. _"I'll make sure that you will not go unpunished."_

With that, the spirit raced towards me so fast that I didn't had the time to see what was happening and where it disappeared to. Nothing happened for a while until I gave out a piercing bone chilling wail of agony, feeling something shooting throughout my body. Something that shouldn't be there. It felt like someone was whipping me but just more painful and then I lowered my head down with exhaustion just from fighting the evil that was inside my body.

Everything went silent until I creepily lifted my head up to reveal a sadistic smile as my blue eyes turned to black.

* * *

"Where did you go? Where? Where?" the familiar voice sobbed. Navi sniffed when she realized that I was gone. Ever since her light went out, she had been more scared but after a while, her light suddenly returned to her as if it never vanished in the first place. "Oh Link. I just hope you're alright." she sighed.

One thing's for sure: this temple is definitely creepy. Way creepier than the Forest Temple. She just wants to get out of here.

"Navi…" a soft quiet voice whispered around the room she was in. She perked up at the sound of her name while cautiously listening to it. "Navi…follow me."

"No." she stubbornly refused. "I won't. You're evil. This temple is evil. Everything's evil." she sniffed.

The blue fairy froze when she saw the shadow coming towards her; her heart stopped beating. Out of the shadows was…

"Sheik!" Navi gasped with delight, zipping towards him. "Oh Sheik! I never thought just how glad seeing you!"

Sheik let out a crooked smile before motioning to a figure that he carried since the figure's weight was on his shoulder.

"Link!" Navi cried out as she spotted my unconscious form. "What happened? He looks like hell."

Sheik rolled his eyes. "That's a nice thing to say…I don't know. I just found him in a chamber chained up." I softly grunted, slipping away then fell to the ground. "Argh, Link! You lazy bum. You always pass out." he muttered, kneeling down to his knees to see if I was alright. "Wake up, Link. Goddesses."

"Guess you could say passing out became my hobby." I mumbled, earning two sighs of relief.

Silence.

"Idiot!" Navi suddenly screamed, making Sheik to jump with startle while I jolted wide awake.

"What—"

Navi furiously flew towards me, nearly blinding me so I backed up shielding myself from the bright light.

"Argh, get away you vermin!" I snarled, blocking the bright light. Navi's eyes widened when I said that.

"W-what?" Sheik just had a confused look. Never had he heard me snarling…it was almost as if I wasn't myself…he narrowed his eyes as he decided to keep a closer look on me.

I blinked. "What? Huh…oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Navi, who was still hurt from the sudden reaction, merely nodded. She was hurt, yes but she didn't show it.

"Better finish with this temple," Sheik replied. "Don't want anything else bad happening to you."

I secretly gave a sinister smile. "Oh yes. You're right. Perhaps we should."

I've noticed how Sheik wasn't with us anymore when Navi and I began to explore the temple so that I could reach the big boss. Navi kept her distance away from me, earning a confused and odd look from me since I wondered what was wrong with her.

Music organs that came out of nowhere would play throughout the temple, frightening Navi way more than she needs to be.

Whenever there was a creature, Navi would softly gasp just how quickly I was able to kill it since usually it would take three hits just to hit it. Because of that, she would stare at me as if I wasn't normal.

"It's rude to stare, you know." I replied, not bothering to check that Navi was staring at me.

"H-huh? Oh yeah…sorry." she apologized after giving me a suspicious look. _Something about him isn't right._ Navi concluded in thought.

We entered the room that a skull nearly in the middle of the room while blue fire was dancing on the head of the skull. I did some stuff here in order to get out of the room and also collecting a small key.

Entering another hallway properly terrified Navi even more but that might be because of the way I brutally killed the spider that dropped from the ceiling. It faced its abdomen that had the skull on it then I swiftly killed by stabbing it abruptly in its weak point then carelessly removed the sword from its dead body.

Gulping, Navi hovered away from me. I turned around to see Navi's sudden reaction.

"Navi…?"

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, dodging my hand that came to her.

"W-why…? I'm your friend."

"No you're not! Throughout this temple, you have been acting dark and sinister."

"What are you saying?"

"You're not Link!" she shouted, furiously.

Time seemed to stop since a heavy thick silence filled the air.

"No…" I finally spoke. "I guess you're not but we can't let you babble out the secret, now can we?" all of a sudden, I took out the dagger and lunged towards the fairy. Before I could even strike her, something tackled me down to the ground letting the dagger to fall out of my hands.

"What's the matter with you? You nearly killed Navi!" Sheik exclaimed, pinning me while I struggled to get loose.

"Did I?" I replied, darkly. "Oops."

"Sheik…Sheik! Link's not himself!" Navi shouted. Sheik stared into my eyes as he finally realized that my eyes were not blue but black. Cold and lifeless.

"Who are you?" Sheik asked.

"I'm me!" I snarled before producing dark magic then pressed it against Sheik's stomach to send him flying through the air then he struck the wall hard, knocked out. Navi screamed from the scene that got displayed though I disappeared within the shadows.

It was a while before Sheik came back to reality only to find that Navi was beside him.

"You okay?"

Sheik grunted as a response, making Navi to mutter. He cautiously looked around, figuring that I disappeared. Navi told him that she didn't know where I was until a loud unexpected heart-attack boom came out of nowhere, startling the two. It felt like everything was being sucked away but at the same time, it wasn't.

There, floating in mid-air, was me as violent winds circled around me. With a scream, I released everything I held. Boulders fell from the ceiling which caused Sheik to gasp since he didn't had enough time to dodge them so he placed his arms in front of his face as if that would protect him.

However, he felt something ramming into him which sent him and the other one rolling on the ground until they stopped.

"What the heck!?" Sheik exclaimed, rubbing his sore forearm since he landed on it in a funny way. He stared at the unmoving figure until a groan came from him.

"Damn, you light dwellers are really goddesses damn stupid." it moaned, getting up to his knees.

Sheik widened his eyes as he realized who the figure is.

"Dark Link?!" he exclaimed, surprised and shocked.

"Surprise!" Dark Link replied, sarcastically. Sheik immediately withdrew his weapons though the "savior" just stood there, staring.

"You really want to fight me now when you have something bigger to handle? Like maybe the insane hero?" he pointed to the crazed me that was building up power.

Having a point, Sheik reluctantly eased up but he kept his guard up. "You…you…saved me?"

"Don't get used it. Even villains can play hero once in a while."

Silence.

"How do I save Link?"

Dark Link didn't answer.

"Please help me!" he cried out. "I know you don't like him…or me but please. You said so yourself: even villains can play hero once in a while."

He sighed, staring deeply at Sheik's pleading eyes. The two got up.

"I wasn't supposed to do it." he responded before reluctantly telling him. "In order to save him…you have to…shoot Link in the chest with a light arrow. I'm sure you have it don't you, Princess Zelda?"

Dark Link suddenly got rammed against the wall, feeling the blade being pressed against his throat.

"How did you know who I am?" he demanded.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out though for some…" he trailed off. "Anyways but are you really protecting or hurting him?" he motioned to the crazed me. "You might want to be careful, Sheik. Let's hope that he would find out from you, not from others." he ghostly whispered, rippling away like how water would do when its surface broke.

Sheik just stared at the wall that once held Dark Link. He was still not used to seeing Dark Link saving anybody. So why did he saved him? Sheik shook his head to clear the thoughts away; he had much important things to do.

He wanted his friend back.

Unfortunately, before he could even get out of his current spot, something rammed at him at the side which caused him to fall down. Muttering, he looked to see that it was the possessed me flying away from him to complete a semi-circle so that I could attack Sheik again.

However, Sheik grabbed an object out of his pocket to reveal a light arrow and the bow. He then fixed his look on me as I flew towards him.

"I'm sorry, Link."

Just as I was about to strike him (a few inches away from his face), something pierced through my chest. I let out a wail of agony, snarling and growling from the horrible object in which I realized that it was light. The light washed away the evil that lingered in my body. Hence was why rays of light emitted out of my body as I still screamed, an awful one.

I gave a one last unearthly scream before everything died down…

Sheik ran towards me to catch me before I could even hit the ground. Un-spilled tears gathered in Sheik's eyes as he watched the light arrow that pierced through my chest. Shakily, his hands moved towards the arrow to gently pull it out.

He stared bitterly at the hole that was in my chest until he got to work by fixing the wound.

Few hours had passed and it was then, that I decided to show some movements in order to ease Sheik who seemed to be a lot in stress.

"She…ik…?" I stirred as my words came a bit slurred.

Sheik let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the goddesses you're okay! How are you feeling?"

I moaned, absent-mindedly massaging the wound that was in my chest. "Feels like I got hit by an arrow or something…"

He suddenly fidgeted…

"Well, anyways…" I started to get back up until a hand pressed down on my chest (just below) so I couldn't move.

"You're not going anywhere until you feel better…"

"But—"

"No, Link! You've gone through enough!" he ordered, making me to scowl.

Few hours or soon and we found ourselves arguing…again.

"No! I insist that you rest here until you feel better! Especially since you have that wound in your chest!" Sheik exclaimed, exasperated.

"Come on, Sheik! I just want to finish this temple. I'm at the boss well standing in front of the big door. Please! I just don't want to see this temple anymore! I hate it! And I'm fine!" I insisted before pausing. "How did I get the wound in my chest anyway?"

Sheik shifted a little, avoiding my eyes. "That doesn't matter. I swear: I'll tell you. But rest for just a couple of minutes!"

"No." I stubbornly refused, making Sheik to growl with frustration.

"I give up! You're so stubborn!" he cried out. "How can anyone deal with you? You're so…so…hard-headed! It's unreal! Are you even human?"

"Technically, it's supposed to be am I even Hylian but…"

"I don't care!" a pause then he stared deeply at my pleading blue eyes. After a huff, he threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "Alright! Just don't you dare come back to Kakariko injured. I swear on my life that _I _will be the one to do it. I'll kill you then haunt your grave."

Happily, I hugged him before dashing to the door after I opened it.

Sheik moaned. "What in Hyrule did I get myself into?"

Oh yeah: Navi and I are on speaking terms after I had apologized endlessly.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted. I wasn't myself. I'm sorry for nearly killing you, stuffing you in my hat—wait a minute!" I cried out. "That wasn't even a part of apologizing! Okay; the nearly killing you part was but stuffing you in the hat…"

Navi rolled her eyes. "Just quit it already!" she suddenly softened. "I'm just happy that you're back to normal. Besides, dark isn't your thing." she then leaned towards my cheek to kiss it. I smiled.

"Let's kick some bad guys butt." I grinned before jumping into the hole that had a very long jump.

I screamed before it got awkwardly cut off when I bounced the bouncy floor that had a hole in the middle. A massive hand came down on the floor hitting it so that I bounced on it again. It repeatedly did that as if it was making some kind of a rhythm as I bounced on the floor every now and then.

I gaped at the figure that was ahead of me. It was a gargantuan, evil spirit that appears as a one-eyed monster with disembodied hands. I was able to take a glimpse at it before it disappeared, being invisible.

That's what Impa had to seal?! She's crazy!

The massive hands kept on hitting the strange floor in a rhythm while making it hard for me to think of what I have to do. Maybe stunning the hands…? Shrugging, I took out my arrow to stun at one of the hands though it was a bit harder to do it since it would keep on hitting the floor.

I missed the first time but the second time I didn't. The first hand turned blue while the second hand also turned blue right after I hit it. Since it was invisible, I took out my Lens of Truth to see the monster going down but it was still floating.

In a blur, it flew towards me as I narrowly avoided the monster that rushed towards me. I stunned the hands again so that I could focus on the eye. I didn't had enough time to use my next move since the brute raced towards me; this time, slamming me hard against it, rattling my bones.

I nearly fell off the drum-like floor but thankfully, I didn't as it what it looked like poison surrounded the arena.

When I stunned the hands again, I shot the eye with the arrow and the great fiend fell down so I rushed towards it in order to kill it before it rose back up. The process continued until on the last strike, I stabbed it.

The monster recoiled in agony as its body thrashed and hands were flailing around the room. It then involuntarily created a frenzied drumroll which steadily has the beat going slow, having the life draining away. The monster turned black and melted into dark blue powder that burned away into nothing.

I panted since I was exhausted. I just couldn't wait to sleep.

"Finally." I breathed out a sigh of relief. "And I finally don't have any injuries from the big boss!"

I happily got out of the dungeon and into the Chamber of Sages.

From the purple symbol, Impa reemerged from it.

She looked nearly old but young at the same time though she held a strict face. The woman had white hair that seemed to be tied in a nearly low ponytail while she wore a blue suit that sometimes would show her dark skin here and there. Markings on her face would also appear.

"The boy with the noble Zelda's Ocarina…As I expected, you have come. I am Impa, one of the Sheikah. I am Princess Zelda's caretaker, and I am also the Sage who guards the Shadow Temple. We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants. However…" she paused, looking at me intently. "On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked…and Hyrule Castle surrendered after a short time."

Yes; I still blame for myself for letting Ganondorf to create Hyrule a world of monsters. I still hate it every second of my life. My head bowed down to the ground as the painful images of me taking out the Master Sword and being frozen in time ran throughout my mind.

"Ganondorf's target was one of the keys in the Sacred Realm…the hidden treasure of the Royal Family…the Ocarina of Time! My duty bound me to take Zelda out of Ganondorf's reach. When last I saw you, as we made our escape from the castle, you were just a lad…"

"Now I'm not."

She nodded. "I also see that you have become a fine hero…"

Those words struck me the most. She really thinks so? I could see that she wasn't lying at all…People…people…really believed that I was a hero…don't they?

"There's nothing to worry about…The Princess is safe now."

"I only wish I knew where she is."

Impa paused as she briefly showed a sympathy look at me before her expression changed quickly.

"Soon, you'll meet Princess Zelda face-to-face, and she will explain everything…That is when we, the six Wise Ones, will seal up the Evil King and return peace to Hyrule. I have to stay here…You go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf."

I nodded. "I promise. I will. I won't let you down." I replied, determined.

"I know you won't. Oh…one more thing: don't be too hard on yourself." she responded. "Now I put my power, which should be helpful to you, into this Medallion!"

A purple Medallion floated into my hands.

"Another thing: Please look out for the Princess!"

I still have one more Sage, don't I?

So, who is it?

Author's Note: So yes, Dark Link saved Sheik BUT Dark Link will ALWAYS be an enemy to him and Link. He won't change one bit, sadly. *sniff* So why did he saved him? The answer will be answered later on… And I'm excited for the Gerudo chapter :D


	20. The Desert of Illusions

Author's Note: After seeing the Gerudo Fortress, I decided to change things up a bit. It's Fanfiction, allowing me to do what I want so therefore I am changing it. The Gerudo Valley will be just like the Gerudo Desert in Twilight Princess with endless of sands stretching out, making it a day or two in order to finally reach the Fortress. The reason: I thought it would be more exciting that way if you know what I mean ;)

Secondly, I am also changing the jail. It will be like any other jail; with prison bars in front and a cold cement ground. Very similar to Twilight Princess where wolf Link is thrown in jail.

Chapter 18: The Desert of Illusions

I breathed in the fresh air of what Kakariko Village has to offer. I missed it terribly. I was finally out of the infirmary; if you must know, I was in there for two weeks…I think…

I entered the Shooting Gallery shop to hear grunting noises coming from it. Curiously, I padded towards the source of the voice and smiled. Malon released another arrow, hitting a Rupee dead on though she muttered, something along "that wasn't good." Unaware to her, Malon suddenly felt something holding her hands and she watched them being moved into a better position.

"Nice to see you out of bed, Link." Malon greeted, smiling slightly as she knew exactly who that was.

I smiled. "It feels good to get out of there. I was dying of boredom just staring at the ceiling."

"You never like infirmaries. I can tell."

"I never liked them even when I was a kid."

Malon gave a short chuckle before gasping as she finally got a bullseye.

"I did it!" she squealed. "I finally got a bullseye!"

Smirking, I rolled my eyes while laughing with her. We played a "friendly" match of hitting the targets until Malon huffed with annoyance since I beaten her once again. I also decided to go to Zora's Fountain or wherever the heck King Zora lies. I wanted to play the Diving Game…

I was pleased to know that the ice had completely thawed out having the water reaching my ears making me to smile at it. Once again, I collected all the Rupees under the time limit. My time was now twenty seconds.

And then, here comes the fishing time! The owner (I really need to learn his name, don't I?) greeted me joyfully as per usual. He still wasn't pleased that I had taken his hat as bait, causing me to grin with amusement. Anyways, I fished for quite some time until I decided to actually go back in time to go to the Market.

Yes; I decided that going back in time has its advantages.

So there I was in the Market smiling widely as I saw the familiar people bustling around the music that played throughout the Market. It feels good to see life here again.

I went to Bowling Alley or whatever it's called to do some bowling. It was fun while it lasted so I went to do some more things such as going to Happy Mask Shop to buy another mask…for fun.

I sulked all the way to the Temple of Time because I had to go back to my time. Navi rolled her eyes at the way I reacted whenever I entered the temple. Oh, I also visited Death Mountain to see how the Gorons are holding up. They're doing pretty good.

Link the Goron couldn't thank me enough that I had saved his family. It was still odd that he was named after me.

"Thank you, Link!" Link the Goron responded. I don't know why but everytime I look deeper into his eyes, I would always find slight guilt…

Deciding that I had taken enough breaks (since I was becoming bored), I resumed back to my hero business so I started to go to Gerudo Valley.

I only hope that this one won't be dangerous as the Shadow Temple. I am never going back there again.

I played the Sun's song so that way night will fall and it will be easier for me to blend in with the shadows. Unfortunately, luck seemed to not be at my side.

It never did, anyway. I trekked through the endless sand while dodging some little critters that would pop out of the ground every now and then. By the time, I reached halfway through the desert, I could just faintly spot a camping site.

I grumbled when I realized that it contained Gerudos. However, they had horses…and the fortress is still far away…

Thinking of a quick plan, I did the action.

"Run Link run!" Navi shrieked. We got spotted from the two Gerudos who angrily chased after me since I stole one of its horses. What? They had three…

I urged the horse to go faster though it wasn't the same as Epona. No horse could be the same as Epona.

The angry Gerudos would yell something in their language while firing their arrows. They have scary aim such as the time when one of them released an arrow and whizzed past by my locks of hair, cutting one of them.

I was doing so well getting away from the two Gerudos until a sound alerted me, making me to gasp and I quickly went faster. A series of Gerudos spotted me and chased after me.

I was probably getting nearer to the Fortress. The sun slowly started to rise.

Though, I still made my way towards the entrance as quick as I can; I even tried to defend myself such as firing arrows like they did at me.

An arrow whizzed by my ear, cutting slightly at the tip and then, unexpectedly, one of the Gerudos came right in front of me. It notched the arrow on its string and released it.

I was unable to avoid the arrow that…

Shot me through my chest so I fell of the horse.

* * *

"At least let me fix his wound." the Gerudo insisted.

The figure grunted. "Why are you so keen in keeping him alive?"

"The Master _wants _him alive, you fool." the Gerudo spoke in a low whisper.

I moaned, instantly making the two shut up. They turned around though one of them started to walk towards me since it opened the jail door to go inside the cell.

"No…go away from me." I moaned, not liking the throb that entered the chest.

"Don't be stupid, kid." the strange Gerudo rolled its eyes. "Just shut up and go to sleep."

Not arguing, I just passed out again.

* * *

When I woke up, I realized that there were no more throbs in my chest. I looked down to see that the wound got fixed which made me to wonder why on Hyrule would a Gerudo help an enemy…I sighed. Great. Just great. I got captured by a bunch of girls.

I had known that Gerudos mostly consisted of girls. Never had I seen a Gerudo that are males.

What hero gets captured by girls?

Apparently me.

I snorted at the ridiculous thought.

"Link…" the voice suddenly came.

I looked around to see where it came from but before the voice could reply again, the sound from the door creaked to show the same Gerudo who fixed my wound.

"You kid. The Master wants to see you." she ordered, roughly taking me out of the jail.

"Yeah that's great and all. I honestly could care less." I muttered before grunting as she roughly shoved me forward.

"Walk." she ordered until she captured my hands in her own so I wouldn't do any funny business.

We arrived at a dark chamber that nearly resembled a jail but I couldn't be sure.

"He is here, Master."

"Good. Chain him up." the figure in the shadows replied, nodding though I couldn't see.

Following the Master's orders, I was chained up…

Again.

"Well…quite a catch I had made today, isn't it?" the "Master" asked.

I stared into the shadows, trying to make out the figure. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Already going into business? I thought we could have a cup of tea." I glared at the shadow as a maid Gerudo actually served the person tea…okay then. The person who was still hidden in the shadows even after sitting on a chair took a sip before it spoke. "What business do you have here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I glared.

It sighed, a fake disappointed one. "I thought we could have a nice conversation but instead you have to go all stubborn. Neox, as you may."

I didn't know but I don't think had felt real pain in my entire life before. Okay, except being zapped from the jellyfishes is definitely the worst kind of pain you can get but this one will have to compete.

I made a stifle cry when I felt the whip touched my back, already cutting through my fabric.

The figure chuckled lowly. "See just how bitter the pain is? Why make things complicated when you can just tell me? Wouldn't that be better?"

But my glare made him to sigh once more then got out of its chair to exit out of the room. Before the figure did though, the person spoke.

"Since this fool," it sneered. "Wouldn't cooperate, whip him as you please."

The person then exited the room after I finally release the cry of pain from the whip that barred on my back. I was slowly loosing conscious after being whipped many times and my back was in an awful condition.

When the person decided that it had enough, the figure threw me back into the jail harshly.

"Stupid kid." the person with the whip spoke before locking the gate. I moaned at the sting in which it ran through my back. It hurts so bad. My upper tunic got bloody torn apart because of that stupid person. I shut my eyes tightly while trying to ignore the pain that went on my back. Unshed tears gathered in my eyes whereas my hands turned to fists.

I hate this. I can't stand it anymore. How many times must I see blood and tears spill before it finally stops? Answer me!

Again, the sound of the door creaked open but I couldn't care. The pain still stung my back until something made me to force myself to see what was happening in front of my cell. The two Gerudo guards suddenly got knocked out, making me to blink with surprise.

Who…?

"Open it!" the voice hissed, commanding the figure in which it had captured. I could tell that the captured figure wasn't happy about this at all since the Gerudo would always mutter nonstop.

I eyed the strange Gerudo that held the angry looking Gerudo. I had never seen the first Gerudo. Who was it? The captured Gerudo fumbled with the keys until it finally got the right one but it dropped the key by accident.

"Oops. I dropped the keys." the Gerudo stated, plainly.

"Pick it up." the figure snarled, kneeing the Gerudo's back.

"Wait stop! Don't hurt her." I called out, instantly having the two people looking at me.

The first figure stared at me with a dumb-founded look on its face. "Link, _these vermin _(the Gerudo scoffed) are the main reason why you are stuck here."

Acting on instinct, I withdrew my arrow dangerously pointing at them.

"How do you know my name?" I demanded as I threateningly pulled back the string.

The person raised its hand up as of means to not attack.

"You can't tell?" it asked surprised.

Using with its free hand, the person removed the mask. I gasped, having my eyes wide.

"Sheik?!" I exclaimed. "What—"

"Are you that thick?" the unhappy Gerudo grunted. "He's helping you to escape."

"Oh…" I said. "And let me guess. You unhappily got captured from…" I twisted my mouth in a smile. "A guy."

She grunted.

"Oh the humiliation!" I burst out laughing at the unhappy Gerudo. But the deathly glare from her instantly made me to shut up.

She was not one happy Gerudo.

I then widened my eyes.

"Where's Navi?!" I demanded. Hastily, I eyed her as she fumbled with her pockets to reveal a bottle that contained an angry looking blue fairy. "If you must, release her." I mumbled.

The Gerudo raised an eyebrow. "You don't like her or something?"

I snorted. "She's annoying."

Shrugging, she started to open the bottle.

"Wait, I don't think that's a good—"

Too late. The Gerudo opened the bottle to reveal a very furious looking Navi who zipped out of the bottle and stared heatedly at the kidnapper of fairies.

"You!" she shrieked. I moaned. "How dare you kidnap me! Have you have no shame? My perfect wings are ruined because some mean big bully decided to carelessly kidnap me in a bottle!" she screeched, furiously.

"Now I know what you mean. You're an annoying little fairy, aren't you?"

Growling, Navi flew towards the face of the kidnapper which caused her to blink away from the bright light.

"I. Am. Not. Annoying. Who in the right mind says so?"

Shaking my head furiously, I moved my hands around so that the Gerudo would know to not answer the question.

Smirking, she bluntly replied. "The kid in the green."

Glaring, Navi zipped through the bars then into my hat.

"Ow! Geez! Stop pulling my hair!" I cried out.

"You big jerk!" another pull of my hair.

I glared at the Gerudo who seemed to be rather amused. "I hate you." I replied.

"The feeling's mutual, kid."

"Ho there! Who's there?" the voice that came out of nowhere spoke.

"Huh?" I quizzed, trying to search for the source. It was then that I squinted my eyes to the jail that was next to mine though I could only make out a faint outline of the figure. Slowly, the figure started to move itself towards my jail bars which freaked me out as I had scrambled backwards.

But, when it got out of the shadows, I gasped with my eyes wide.

It was the King of Hyrule.


	21. Breakaway

Chapter 19: Breakaway

It seemed that everyone was in a silent mode though the Gerudo always kept that angry look on her face. I wonder if she had ever made a different expression…probably not.

"K-King of Hyrule?" I finally asked. "Wh-what…what are you doing here?"

The King sighed. "I'm sorry, my friend but it seems that he was right."

"Who was right?" Sheik asked.

"The boy with the fairy. He broke into my castle by disguising himself as one of my best soldiers and nearly killed me with an arrow…He was in a demanding mood, that's for sure." the King dryly chuckled.

I secretly scowled. "I'm sure he didn't really break in." I muttered while trying not to say _I told you so_. "Care to explain the long story?"

He sighed. "As you know, Ganondorf pledged an oath which was to protect Hyrule and its Princess. He did so and after weeks had gone by, I made him to be one of my loyal subjects. Of course, I was blind and did not know that he was making a plan…a plan to conquer Hyrule by using the element of surprise. Few weeks later, the boy with the fairy came in being disguised and told me about the consequences for making Ganondorf my loyal subject. However, I was stubborn and refused to listen to the boy and ordered my soldiers to go after him."

I gritted my teeth so that to stop me from making a remark. Sometimes, Sheik would throw me few odd glances.

"And then, right before the Ocarina boy disappeared, I was led to my own downfall and it was then that the Ocarina boy disappeared for seven long years. At first, I thought there was no hope at all after the disappearance of the boy. Word got around soon and a flicker of hope just barely made me to hang on. To hope that the boy could save Hyrule and regain its glory."

Everyone was silent.

The King, however, kept on gazing at me intently as if he was trying to figure it out who I was.

He frowned. "I'm sorry. But who are you?" he asked me. "You look strangely familiar yet something about you is off…"

Shock was clearly through my face. How could he not know who I am? I didn't really change that much…did I? Angered, I actually pulled the King towards the jail bars by the scruff of his tattered robes.

"Look into my eyes and tell me that you don't recognize me. Look into my eyes and tell me that you don't remember the Ocarina kid!" I demanded with such fierceness that if a person first met me, they would think that I was a King. Sheik stared at me with a shock look on his face.

The fallen King deeply gazed into my fierce sharp eyes. Thick silence was held into the atmosphere. The King then gasped, softly as he finally recognized who I was.

"L-Link?" the King uttered while having a shock look on his face. "Is that you? Oh by the goddesses! Look at you! Look at how you have grown!" he exclaimed. "What happened to you? Where have you been in the past seven years?"

I made a grimace, not wanting to relieve the scene; I let go of him.

"It's a long story." I replied, watching the former King sitting in a comfortable position while Sheik and the Gerudo stood guard…I'm surprised that the Gerudo even stood guard with someone who is not from her race. I could've sworn I saw a different expression from the Gerudo as she heard my story-telling but I wasn't sure.

_These people really look up to their hero. These are dark times and I can tell they need him, now more than ever. _the Gerudo thought, sighing as she leaned her head against the cold bars.

After I told him everything, he was still in even more shock.

"Just…wow…" he managed to utter. Another silence came in. "I-I can't tell you how sorry I am, Link."

I stared at him. Was he…actually apologizing?

"I am sorry, Link. Deeply sorry for not believing you. If I had believed in you, I'm sure I might've put a stop to it before things got out of control." he turned around to look at me. "Please Link. I could hardly ask of you anything but…do you forgive me?"

I was still shocked, mind you. I didn't answer for a long time until I managed to do so.

"Yes. I forgive you." I finally answered. The King nodded, greatly appreciating that I had forgiven him.

A sudden loud commotion was made, catching our attention. The voices weren't too far that I could tell since they were practically shouting. The thief narrowed her eyes at the sudden noise.

Whatever it was, something was about to happen and her race is happy about it.

"Sounds like they're celebrating something." Sheik responded.

"I wouldn't say that. Stay here." the Gerudo ordered, suddenly having a change in her heart. She ran towards the door to exit out of the dungeon to see what was up with her people.

"Did she just…"

"Changed sides?" Sheik finished, shocked. We both stared numbly at the door in which the girl disappeared too.

Several minutes later, the same Gerudo emerged out of it but her face looked pale and she panted heavily as though she had ran.

"Well?" Sheik asked.

"Bad…news…" she told us then groaned. "I can't believe I'm doing this—no, it's not the time for explaining—but…I have to let you two out of here." she replied, earning us to have stun looks.

"Wha—"

"I told you that we have no time to explain—oh for Din's sake!" she snapped before fumbling with the keys to free us. "Go. I'll guide you out of the fortress. Once out, I can't go any further. Now, there will be two black horses waiting for you outside of the fortress. They will lead you to your next destination. No _time_!" she said sternly when I tried to say why and what.

With that, she usher us out of the jail and waited to see if there were any of her people. Once clear, she motioned us with a wave of her hand to follow her. It went pretty swiftly though, harshly, the Gerudo chucked the King and I to the opposite wall and Sheik and her to the other wall to hide since there were Gerudo guards coming down the path.

Their footsteps faded away and we were able to run down the path. Until…

"Where do you think you're going with the prisoners?" one of the Gerudos asked, pointing their weapons at us.

The Gerudo (I really need to learn her name) raised her hand as if to not fight. "I'm just leading their way to the execution."

There was a thick silence as the two Gerudos stared down with such intense glares. I'm guessing they don't like each other…

"Very well then." the Gerudo finally spoke. The person let us pass though I suddenly felt uneasy from the stare she gave us.

"An execution?" I hissed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you there was no time to explain!" she hissed back, making me to sneer.

All of a sudden, something met my throat which caused the group to turn around.

"I'm sorry: I didn't buy it." the Gerudo sneered.

Angrily, I used my foot to kick her in the ankle in which she recoiled with pain as she clutched her ankle. I then twirled around and took my sword out.

"Link!" the Gerudo replied, annoyed at my stupidity. "You're not going to be able to fight her. We're not weak, you know! LINK!"

Too late. I ran towards her, charging and the once fallen Gerudo snapped back up quickly and defended herself by clashing. We both glared at one another hatefully though she sneered.

"It's alright, _traitor_. If this kid wants a fight, then he will get one."

"I'm not a kid!" I snapped, pushing her backwards roughly then went down to trip her again by swinging my leg so that she could be tripped. Shocked, the Gerudo fell down to the ground but quickly got up to slash at me which I dodged it.

"Not bad." the warrior nodded, slightly impressed. "But can you dodge this?"

She sent multiple of swings which I just barely dodged them. At one point, I twirled around to avoid her attack but as I did, I felt the breeze from the sword dangerously swinging past by my face.

Suddenly, the Gerudo gave out an unexpected yell which caused me to look at her only to find her clutching her wounded shoulder. I turned around and saw the Gerudo (who was on "our" side) fired an arrow.

"Traitor!" she spat, disgusted.

"I'm not." our Gerudo then ushered us to move quickly though the angry warrior still chased us even with the wounded shoulder.

"We're almost there." the thief panted.

And then there were a lot more commotion which I turned around. It was a very bad idea to do so as there were a couple of Gerudos chasing after us; each of them having their own weapons such as arrows, swords and sometimes even axes…

"They're gaining on us!" Sheik (who was still disguised as a Gerudo) spoke.

Unexpectedly, the Gerudo stopped making me to bump into her with an oomph!

"Wha—"I started but got cut off.

"Go! I will handle them!"

"Are you mad!?" Sheik demanded. "You can't possibly—"

"Just go!" she snapped.

Sighing, Sheik forced us to keep on going even after I protested and yelled.

"It's no use!" Sheik replied harshly as he roughly shoved me to be in front. "If you stay behind, you're going to get killed."

"And it will be for a good cause!" I snatched my arm back from the tight grip he gave me and I ran towards the battlefield.

"LINK!" Sheik boomed.

The Gerudo who stayed behind just finished two of her own kind and she was about to go and kill the other one who was going to attack her but something made that fighter to give a yell, surprising the girl.

The warrior fell down to the ground after the sword that got plunged into her body was removed. It then revealed me, smirking.

"You know…for a Gerudo, you're not that bad." I replied.

"Well I'm so honored." she sneered.

"By the way," I began, twirling around to fight off another warrior. The not-so-bad Gerudo also fought two of her own kind before having us being back to back.

"I never got your name."

We then pushed ourselves forward to fight three more Gerudos until we were back to back again.

"Serilda."

At least, this time, it will be easier to identify who's who don't you think?

I grunted when one of the nasty Gerudos kicked me in the stomach hard, causing me to fall down. I was starting to be exhausted but I couldn't show that to them. The battle came to an end all too soon when one of the Gerudos stabbed Serilda. Let me explain.

The two of us were fighting the Gerudos who were circling us. There were a whole lot of them so of course, we couldn't really see their attacks all at once. Just when I had finished killing one of them, I turned around and to see Serilda fighting two of the Gerudos. However, I widened my eyes when I saw one of the Gerudos came behind her, raising her sword.

"Serilda!" I cried out, running towards her.

However, she sensed that someone was behind her so she turned around but then she suddenly plunged her sword into the attacker but that wasn't what shocked me.

When she turned, both of them stabbed one another, hearing their gasp and I watched her with horror as she fell down to her knees. "NO!"

"No!" I screamed. I started to run towards only to be stopped as I felt someone dragging me away from the bloody scene. "NO!" I thrashed around violently, trying to be released. Even though she was a Gerudo, she wasn't a bad person. Sure we got off to a rocky start but…people _can _change.

"We can't do anything right now. What's done is done." the familiar voice replied in a low voice, making me to suddenly be angry.

"That's what you think! You always say that, Sheik!" I exclaimed, frustrated once I figured it out who was my kidnapper. "You never give a second thought!"

"Did you ever think," he replied in a dangerous low voice. "That you can't bring back the dead?"

I suddenly went quiet.

Our trip to the safe zone was quiet. Sheik and I wasn't talking to each other though occasionally, he would throw me some glances. The King was probably still shocked from the previous events so that was probably why I hadn't heard him talking for quite a while.

The sun started to descend to become a sunset.

"Link, snap out of it! We're being attacked!" Sheik's harsh voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Wha—"I didn't get to finish it since I felt an arrow whizzing past my ear, cutting the tip of it.

Did I mention that the Gerudos have scarily good aim?

We urged our horses to go faster while trying to avoid the flying arrows. We came across a cliff and jumped off just when I heard two arrows being released. When the horses "flew" into the air, I couldn't really avoid the arrows so…

The arrows both struck me at the abdomen, letting me to fall of the horse.

I didn't hear Sheik calling me since I already got knocked off.

"LINK!"


	22. Past, Present, Future

**Shoutout: **Thanks to KuZaganHW for following the story.

Chapter 20: Past, Present, Future

I moaned, fluttering my eyes to be opened. To where I was, there wasn't much light that I could tell.

…

Where am I?

I don't remember much but the last thing I did remember was being knocked out. I frowned. That's the only thing I remember whenever I pass out.

"He's alive." a voice grunted.

Another voice breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank the goddesses!"

I moaned again not liking that there were voices, letting me to slowly develop a headache. Not fun. My vision was a bit blurry so I somewhat was able to make out the figures. There was Sheik and a…

"Oh…It's a Gerudo." I mumbled, slowly feeling my eyes closing. I then shot my eyes open. "A Gerudo?!"

I instantly got up while ignoring the pain that jolted through my body as I made an instinct to grab my sword.

The Gerudo sighed. "What did I tell you? I knew he would freak out."

"Tell me what?" I demanded, having my eyes narrowed.

"Link, please try to calm down." I whirled around to see Sheik pleading me to be calmed.

"You had something to do with this, didn't you Sheik?!" I yelled, only to be proven right when Sheik fidgeted a little.

He sighed. "Link, please. I promise you that you—"

"No! I'm tired of having secrets being kept away from me! It gets on my nerves! Am I really not that trustworthy to know?!" I exclaimed.

"Of course you are trustworthy! It's just that…" funny, how he was struggling for words.

"Just what, _Sheik_?"

He bowed his head, gazing at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

Something hard met my head so I got knocked out…

Again.

* * *

I groaned, finally waking up but having a bad headache. I hate being knocked out.

"Did you had to knock me out?!" I cried out.

The person grunted as if it didn't cared. "It was the only way to make you to shut up."

I mumbled. "Whatever." I paused. "Can you _now _tell me what's going on? Or do I have to wait to have more secrets being kept away from me?"

The Gerudo rolled her eyes. "Shut up and I _will _explain."

She explained everything. The sudden attack from the fortress, who those groups were (apparently, they were the Gerudos who supported Ganondorf) and she also explained that there are other group of Gerudos that does not support Ganondorf and that was them. They hate the evil King with their guts and wanted nothing more than to see him die. He ruined her people.

I soon learned that her name was Sahara. I still didn't really trust her not because she was the one who knocked me out (okay, maybe that was one of the reasons) but I still was having a hard time trying to believe her. Maybe she was telling the truth.

"So, where are you headed to?" Sahara asked, taking me off guard.

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well if you broke into the fortress in the first place then there has to be a reason as to why. So, where are you headed to?" she repeated.

Reluctantly, I told her. "The Spirit Temple. I need to do some stuff there."

Sahara sighed. "In order to reach Spirit Temple, you have to overcome the trials such as crossing the River of Sand and then there's a Phantom Guide that has a saying: _one with the eye of truth shall be guided to the Spirit Temple by an inviting ghost_." she quoted. "Only you can overcome those trials, boy. No one else and you cannot have any help…other than the Phantom's guide. Are you sure you want to go there?" she asked, again.

"Yes."

She nodded. "Very well then. Sheik will meet you there."

I gave her a raised eyebrow. "How can you do that?"

She didn't answer me other than saying that we will go to the Gerudo Training Ground or something like that.

I really don't know anymore…

* * *

"Hey, rookie!" one of the Gerudos responded. "Are you going into the desert? I'll open this gate for you, but…You can't cross the desert unless you pass the two trials. The first trial is…the River of Sand! You can't walk across this river! After you cross it, follow the flags we placed there. The second trial is…the Phantom Guide!" she responded as if it was trying to frighten me.

Give me a break, will you?

"Those without eyes that can see the truth will only find themselves returning here." she spoke. "You are going anyway, aren't you? I won't stop you…Go ahead!"

I rolled my eyes. She probably wants to see me dead.

Like every other villain…

I ignored her then went through the opening once the gate was lifted up. When I entered, it was nothing but endless of sands that seemed to be pulling down to the ground; in other words, quicksand. There were poles and platforms sticking out of the ground.

**Haunted Wasteland **

_If you chase a mirage, the desert will swallow you. Only one path is true!_

The minute I stepped foot on the sand, a sand storm greeted me by hitting my face so I had to cover my face with my arm in attempt to see.

"I can't see!" Navi proclaimed.

"Who would've thought?!"

I squinted my eyes to see platforms far ahead of the large quicksand. Thinking, I got out my longshot to grab one of them by the edges. I then zoomed towards the end and placed my feet firmly on the firm sand ground.

_All those reckless enough to venture into the desert—please drop by our shop. Carpet Merchant._

The shop? Where is it?

I couldn't tell at all since the sand storm began to pick up badly. However, I tripped on something only to find that it was wood so it was probably a bridge or something. It was then that I was able to spot a carpet…

Wait…

A flying carpet?

Giving it an odd look, I decided to try out my new item which was the Hover Boots to fly myself to the carpet. I smiled when they worked out.

"Welcome!" the person greeted me. "I am selling stuff, strange and rare, from all over the world to everybody. Today's special is…A dangerous, running object! Terrifying! I won't tell you what it is until I see the money…How about two hundred rupees?"

I politely declined it.

"Oh, that's too bad. The mark that will lead you to the Spirit Temple is the flag on the left outside the shop. If you change your mind, please come back again!"

The minute I went away from the shop, the person was gone. I took its advice by following the flag but when I reached the last one, it stopped. The storm was really beginning to be picked up badly as the specks of sands still hit my face.

I walked around nearly aimlessly until something made me to fall unexpectedly. I screamed down before doing a somersault to save my fall. Muttering, I took in the surroundings and notice that I was in a small wooden shack.

_One with the eye of truth shall be guided to the Spirit Temple by an inviting ghost._

As soon as I had put the Lens of Truth, a Phantom appeared letting out an impish and it floated backwards while it spoke.

"I'll be your guide on your way, but coming back, I won't play! I'll show you the only way to go, so follow me and don't be slow!"

I followed the Phantom as quickly as I could. Sometimes, enemies would pop out of the ground so that they would try and to make lose the guide though I ignored. However, I would panic whenever the Phantom would make turn so I didn't turn when he turned.

Nevertheless, I still followed him in this awful storm.

The storm died down when I reached my destination and it had strange building-like structure ahead with cliffs scattered across the sand.

The building must be the Spirit Temple.

However, the building showed a statue inside of it so now I wasn't really sure if it was the Spirit Temple. It didn't look like one anyway.

Night had fallen when I went further in the new place. I eventually found the Great Fairy's Fountain and obtained a new magic spell which was Nayru's Love and its purpose was to create a protective barrier.

"Nayru's Love is in effect for only a limited time, so use it carefully." the fairy told me before disappearing.

The sun came back up again when I entered the building.

It was more of a building then a temple with hard stone walls, pillars, stairs and a red carpet that was ahead of me. I climbed up the stairs that was in front of me then killed off the statues that came to life.

_If you want to proceed to the past, you should return here with the pure heart of a child._

I have to go back in time again, don't I?

_If you want to travel to the future, you should return here with the power of silver from the past._

I then got out of the temple since I didn't really had nothing to do in there. As I got out, something was watching me and it jumped off from its spot right in front of me so I took out my sword to attack it.

"Past, present, future…" I breathed out a sigh of relief when I knew who it was.

"Sheik."

He nodded. "I'm glad you made it here alive. The Master Sword is a ship with which you can sail upstream and downstream through time's river…The port for that ship is in the Temple of Time…To restore the Desert Colossus and enter the Spirit Temple, you must travel back through time's flow…Listen to this Requiem of Spirit…This melody will lead a child back to the desert."

The melody was soft and calm and I already felt like I was turned back into a child again. Unbeknownst to us, a figure was watching us playing the Requiem of Spirit. It closed its eyes, drinking into the tune then it took off once the melody stopped playing.

Silence held among us while we stared at each other.

"I must go."

"Wait, Sheik!"

It was already too late since he disappeared in the unexpected sand storm.

Sighing, I warped myself to Temple of Time to do what Sheik had told me which was to go back as a child and do some stuff…

Since I was a kid now, I took out the Ocarina to play the Requiem of Spirit so that I could warp myself to Desert Colossus. I then arrived at that place and then went to a spot to play the Song of Storms.

Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as the once dry land was now filled up with water. Fairies were swarming around the water and one of them danced around me, healing me wherever I got injured.

Smiling, I left after I thanked them and went back to the Spirit Temple; still as a kid though.

"I wonder who built the Spirit Temple and for what purpose?" Navi thought out loud.

"Don't know. Maybe for worshipping…?"

"I haven't seen you around, kid…" a Gerudo responded.

We were in the temple and the Gerudo spotted us.

"That's because I never came here. It's my first time." I flashed a smile. Well…

"Sure." she grunted. "Can you do me a favor, kid?"

I narrowed my eyes at the sudden request. "It depends on what it is."

"Wait a second, I want to ask you first—you wouldn't happen to be one of Ganondorf's…followers…would you?"

"Are you kidding me?!" I asked her sharply. "Never in my _life _would I ever support Ganondorf! He's nothing but vile and cruel!"

"Alright, calm down! I'm just making sure. Anyways, you got guts. I think I like you. First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Nabooru of the Gerudo. I'm a lone wolf thief. But don't get me wrong!" she responded, nearly quickly after she saw my distained look. "Though we're both thieves, I'm completely different from Ganondorf."

"Prove right."

She seemed to be in thought. "Alright. With his followers, he stole from women and children, and he even killed people! A kid like you may not know this, but the Gerudo race consists only of women. Only one man is born every hundred years…Even though our laws say that lone male Gerudo must become King of the Gerudo, I'll never bow to such an evil man!" she snarled.

Alright then…

"By the way, what is your name, kid?"

I looked at her, deciding whether or not if I should tell her. I don't completely trust her even though she spoke the words but is it true?

Finally giving up, I reluctantly told her.

"Link."

"Link?!" she asked surprised. "What kind of name is that? Well…anyway…" she changed the subject after seeing me scowling. "I want to ask you a favor…Will you go through this tiny hole and get a treasure that's inside?"

"I suppose…fine…"

"Thanks, kid. The treasure is the Silver Gauntlets. If you equip them, you can easily push and pull very heavy things! No, no, no, kid! Don't even think about taking this treasure for yourself! The Silver Gauntlets won't fit a little kid like you if you try to equip them! I want you to be a good boy and give them to me! Ganondorf and his minions are using the Spirit Temple as a hideout."

My mouth went open. "What?!"

She nodded. "Only the Silver Gauntlets will allow to sneak deep into the temple. Once there, I'm going to steal all the treasure inside and mess up their plans! How about it? Will you do it?"

"If I must." I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, kid!"

I scowled. "Only if you stop calling me kid!"

She smirked. "Maybe when you're grown up!"

Oh, the irony.

The room I entered after crawling through the hole that was behind Nabooru was filled with traps and enemies. I killed the moving statue which opened the locked door.

When I entered the room, a stalfo dropped down out of nowhere so I attack it. After several of hits, he died. I crossed the bridge after hitting the crystal switch with my boomerang then went through another entrance.

Naturally, I was locked in. I narrowly avoided the flaming fire that got produced from a statue-like when I ran to the other side. I hit the switch with my slingshot to have the fire to lick the bars of the door. In result, the metal bars slid back up though the circle of fire was still there.

The fire then died down and I entered in the next room. Navi told me to watch out for the shadows of monsters that hang from the ceiling. I destroyed a few enemies that lingered in this room and when all of them were killed, the fence from the wall fell down to create a path.

Seeing two unlit torches, I took out my Deku Stick to light them up from the lit torches. Once that was done, a treasure chest dropped down out of nowhere so I went to grab the item: it was a small key.

I exited out of the room to go into a new room which had the box trap that spun around in a circle in the middle of the chamber. To my right, I saw a hole so I went towards it to crawl in. A locked door was ahead of me by the time I got out of the hole so using the key I just grabbed, the door got unlocked.

I climbed up the wall to where I could after destroying two spiders. The moment I got to the top and turned to a spot, a lizalfo dropped down. I immediately attacked it before the enemy hopped away, quickly. I dodged its attack whenever it tried to stab me with its dagger until it decided to trick me by moving to the left instead of the right. The dagger sliced my shoulder when I turned right since I thought it would.

Ignoring it, I attacked the lizalfo as many times I could before it blocked my attacks. I muttered after I unexpectedly got rammed at the back from a second lizalfo. Yes; apparently they were two. It must've come out when I killed its friend.

This one was a bit stubborn since whenever I tried to assault it, it would jump in the air to avoid it. Finally, after several hits the lizalfo was demolished. I looked up to see a crack on the wall so I got out a Bombchu and they "crawled" the wall to blow it up.

The crack got blown up and the picture (which was on the floor) that resembled a sun lit up in its respective color which was yellow. It opened the locked door that had metal bars then went through the door's entrance.

Stairs were in front of me and so was the statue that stood still. This one seemed to not come alive since I pushed it to its destination which was to what it looked like a switch. It triggered the metal bars that were on the door to go up.

I exited out of the room to be in a hallway-like chamber. Then, I got locked in once I arrived at a new area. It was filled with box traps, high platforms to help me to reach where I can't and doors.

After killing all of the enemies—minus the box traps since I still didn't know how to destroy them—and lighting up the torches, a treasure chest dropped down. I went to grab the item which was another small key. I did some more stuff in here such as pulling the heavy boxes to their spots, the sun on one of the boxes was lighted up which opened the locked door.

"Are we at the boss yet?" I grumbled, not wanting to spend any more in this temple.

Navi rolled her eyes. "Does it look like we're there? No."

A few minutes later.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No.

"Now?"

"_No!"_

"Now?"

"LINK FOR THE LOVE OF NAYRU!" she screamed, annoyed which caused me to jump back with startle. "We're not there yet and if you ever utter a single word, I _will_ feed you to Volvagia!"

"Volvagia's dead." I replied, bluntly.

"Oh yeah? I can always go up to Ganondorf and make him to revive it again." she stared down at me, dangerously.

I gasped, fake-frightened. "You wouldn't?"

"I _would_."

We stared at each other before bursting with laughter.

"That was funny. Did you see the look on your face? One might run away from you." I chuckled.

"Y-yeah…" Navi replied, shakily since she laughed so hard.

"Hey, what's up, Link? Surprised to see me?"

I turned around and saw Kaepora. I smiled. "Hey! I haven't seen you in so long."

We got out of the temple though I have feeling we're not completely done with it.

"A long time in this world is almost nothing to you, is it? How mysterious! Even I thought that the tales of a boy who could travel back and forth through was merely a legend. Link, you have fully matured as an adult. From now on, the future of all the people in Hyrule is on your shoulders."

I sighed. "I know. I just don't know if I could do it."

He smiled, an owl smile. "I'm sure you will. You never cease to amaze me! But maybe it's not my time anymore. Here is my last advice. Two witches inhabit this temple. In order to destroy them, turn their own magic power against them. Hoo hoot!"

He took off.


	23. The Past is in the Past

Chapter 21: The past is in the past

I spotted the treasure chest to open it in order to grab the item. I breathed out a sigh of relief when I realized what they were. They were the Silver Gauntlets. They are more like gloves, if anything as their main colors are red and silver.

A sand storm got picked up again, without a warning so I shielded my face with my arm.

When did they come from?

"Hey! Where are you taking me?!" a sudden voice exclaimed, frustrated.

I looked around to see where it was coming from.

"Yeearggh! Let me go!"

I ran to the edge, only to find people walking on the sand.

"You, you fiends! Ganondorf's minions!"

That voice…

"Nabo—"

"Shut up, _Link_!" Navi hissed. "They will find you."

However, I widened my eyes when I saw something sucking Nabooru; it looked a vortex. Above the vortex, two people flying around in circles…The owl's words flashed into my mind, having me to think that those might be the two witches of which he spoke.

Apparently, Nabooru spotted me since she yelled out before she got sucked in.

"LINK! Get out of here! NOW!" she screamed. She then got sucked in.

The two witches flew into the entrance so I carefully stepped on the ledge of the ground to see where they had gone into. The sandstorm came in, wiping out the scene as if it was trying to make the event that happened so far to disappear.

I stared numbly at the sand of where Nabooru once stood. Where did they send her? Is she going to be okay?

"Come on!" I replied before playing Prelude of Light to warp myself back to Temple of Time.

And then, I warped myself to Desert Colossus once I played Requiem of Spirit. I noticed that the Gauntlets were placed on me. It felt a bit weird wearing them though I quickly disregarded the thought and quickly went the inside of the Spirit Temple.

I rolled my eyes since I had to start from the beginning…

I climbed up the stairs then turned to my right in order to push the large heavy box forward. The box fell down, allowing me to continue the path. I struck the switch that was on the ceiling to open the door then went to the right to enter a new room.

I played the Song of Time to trigger the blue door to be opened. I then went to be at a new area until a glob monster dropped down…the monster that swallowed and um…took my clothes…um…yeah, that one…

Anyways, it quickly got killed so I went to the chest to get the small key from it. I exited out of the room and into another area and then I was able to go to the door in which I had ignored.

The location revealed to be a hallway with a few lit torches being at the side of the wall. I killed another one of those blob monster before climbing up the wall wherever again to reach the top.

At the top, it had a mirror that reflected off light and a locked door. It took several tries to figure out what I'm supposed to do. It was until I moved the light mirror to the sun symbols. Two of them burst into flames, indicating that they were the false ones and on the third one, it was the real one since it lit up having the locked door to be opened.

I then entered a large room with stairs to my left so I climbed up the stairs before ascending another stairs. I did some stuff at the top such as having the longshot to be hook on a target in order to reach the chest to grab the small key.

I jumped down to the very bottom of the floor of this room. And then I groaned since I realized that I needed to do some stuff on the upper level. Spotting a switch, I took out the hammer to slam it down. It opened the locked door and went through.

And then, I went to another room which made me to get locked in. I blew up an enemy which got the other door unlocked and then jumped over the small gap to activate the switch. A circle of fire emerged out of the ground so I had to go my right (since I was facing the wall).

I then got out of this room and reemerged into a new one.

Once activating the live statue, I tricked it so that it got press the switch. The locked door got unlocked and I was able to go in.

I walked down the hallway and into the next room, only to be locked in.

"Locked in again? Are you—"

"Shh, hold on for a second." I hushed Navi, listening intently.

_Hero chosen by the goddesses_

_Be brave…_

_Courage…_

The hauntingly words whispered around the room. I looked up to see many spirits floating in; each of them whispering different words. However, two different spirits caught my interest.

"Navi, who's that?" I pointed to the two spirits.

She gave me a confused look. "Who's who? I can't see, Link."

I don't know why but that suddenly terrified me. How was I able to see these spirits? Who were they exactly when they were alive? The two spirits softly floated towards me. However, one of them gasped as if they knew me.

"_Is that you, my son?"_ her soft melodic voice rang throughout the room. I gave a semi-confused look at the spirit. She wore a pretty dress and I couldn't really tell her hair color since well…she's a spirit…Her almond eyes stared at me as tears slowly started to gather. _"Look at how you have grown! Brad, come here!"_

A man floated besides his wife. If he was in person, he looked handsome with a muscular build and something about his clothes slowly threw me off. It was similar to what Sheik was wearing but just nearly different. I could faintly tell that the outfit had a metallic blue with an eye in the middle of the outfit.

"_Son…? Link…? Is that really you?"_

"_Of course it is! Who else would it be?_" the wife reprimanded him.

It was then that hit me.

"Mom…? Dad…?" I stuttered. Those were probably my parents. No not probably; they had to be or otherwise they wouldn't randomly call me 'my son'.

Navi gave me a confused look. "What? Link…you're parents are…dead…"

"They're right there!" I cried out. I reached my hand towards my mom's but it just went through. A pang in my heart suddenly welcomed me while unwelcomed tears gathered in my eyes.

"Hey, son got any ladies chasin' after you?"

"Brad!" she scolded him.

I softly let out a laugh.

"I'm just teasin' him, Lay. Lighten up." he then floated closer to me whispering to my ear. "She was always grouchy in the first place, anyway." he winked, causing me to grin.

"I heard that you know!" she scowled then softened. "I'm sorry. We have to go. We can't stay much longer. Be brave, my sweet son."

A small tear rolled down my cheek as the two started to slowly fade away.

"Please don't go!" I cried, reaching for my mother's hand again. This time, she reached for mine as well but it went through as she spoke.

"The ones who die never truly leaves you. They will always be in your heart," her voice echoed, finally fading away. The other spirits floated away, leaving me alone.

I couldn't hold it anymore. I just cried.

* * *

"Are you ready for this?" Navi asked. We were finally at the Boss door.

"Yes." I answered, determinedly.

"Just to let you know, Link…" Navi spoke as I went to the locked door. "I'm always here with you."

I smiled softly. "Thanks, Navi…"

I then opened the big door and went inside. I immediately took out my sword when I saw a figure ahead of me.

"Ho ho ho! Looks like someone is here, Koume." the figure let out a cackle, turning around.

"Hee hee hee! Looks like it, Kotake!"

They fully turned around to see me glaring at them.

"What an outrageous fellow he is. To intrude so boldly into our temple…Ho ho ho!"

"We should teach this outrageous fellow a lesson! Hee hee hee!" Koume cackled, menacingly. The two witches then turned around to face a figure. Or a statue…one of the two.

"Oh, loyal minion…Destroy this intruder on our behalf!" they both chanted to the statue. They spun around, disappearing into blue and red fire and soon, the once still figure was now alive. It looked at itself as if it was trying to figure it out what was missing. When it did, it snapped its finger, producing a sharp axe out of thin air.

Wickedly, it started to go forward hearing the clanking of the metal every now and then. Temporarily, I had frozen but when it came closer, it swung its axe dangerously at me which I dodged it by doing a backflip.

We both grunted here and there until finally, I struck him at the helmet and it cracked in half, having the red jewel out. A figure fell to its knees then fell on the ground, probably passed out.

Something about that figure looked familiar…

Groaning, the person got up and my eyes got widened.

"Unnnh…Where am I?" she groaned, feeling a headache coming.

"Na…booru?" I finally uttered.

A witch appeared in a flash of blue, startling us both.

"Well, well…Looks like she's back to normal…Koume…"

The other witch, who also reappeared in a flash of red, spoke.

"She's just a little girl, but she commands a lot of respect among the Gerudo, Kotake…"

"Maybe we should make her work for the great Ganondorf for a little while longer! Ho ho ho!" the witch with the blue jewel spoke evilly.

"Then we should brainwash her again! Hee hee hee!"

Quickly, Nabooru ran in attempt to avoid their magic since they summoned it but it was too late since she got hit by it. The two witches disappeared, leaving me to be confused but then got snapped out of it. I ran towards the door to enter hallway.

And then, I arrived at a new room. I then spotted a wall-like ladder so I used that to climb it since I needed to reach the top.

"Look at that stupid kid! He came on his own to offer himself as a sacrifice to the great Ganondorf…" the familiar voice echoed.

The floor glowed a disgusting yellow, having the annoying witch to emerge from the ground.

"With my flame, I will burn him to the bone!" the witch with the red jewel twirled around in the air while having the flames burst out as she let out a cackle.

Kotake emerged out of the ground, also saying her stuff. "With my frost, I will freeze him to his soul!" she then turned around, hoping to scare me off with her ice power.

"Get real, sistah! I ain't scared of you." I shot back, already annoyed by those witches.

They scowled before flying around in circles, indicating that the battle had begun.

Right…I don't know what I'm supposed to do! It was then that I remembered of what the Owl had given me for an advice. Kotake released her frost though as I was about to grab my shield, the ice struck me first freezing me in my place. Koume cackled at my misfortune before she released her fire.

I screamed in agony when the fire melted away the ice and my flesh skin. Quickly, I painfully did a somersault to extinguish the fire. Several seconds later, the fire witch released her power and this time, I blocked it by using my new item which was the Mirror Shield.

Right after that, the ice witch also unleashed her power which got blocked. They flew around for several of seconds until Koume fired her power. Thinking, I decided to use my normal shield when Koume attacked again and then I took out my Mirror Shield while the fire streak was still hitting my normal shield.

I then placed the Mirror Shield in front of my normal one which in the end, the fire streak finally struck Koume. I got another plan which was when Kotake fired her ice power I immediately used the Mirror Shield to send towards Koume.

It froze her for a second before the fire melt it away.

Kotake fired her ice power again so this time, I missed the target. Koume then fired her own attack and then with the help of the Mirror Shield, the ice power struck the fire witch. She screamed in pain when the ice power struck her.

Feel the pain!

The ice witch assaulted me again and I struck the fire witch from the Mirror Shield which got her to be frozen; I was soon bored of this battle. But of course, the witches had something else in their mind which was why, the ice witch had used her magic to life me up so that I could painfully crash into the wall.

I tried to move though something forbade me to do so. It felt as if my legs were frozen in place, not being able to move at all. I then looked down to see the ice slowly creeping up to my knees.

Well then no wonder.

Somehow, I was able to bring out the Mirror Shield and then when the Fire witch unleashed her power, it struck the Shield. In result, the fire streak collided into the witch who gave out an agonizing wail of pain which killed her by forming herself into the fire streak. Angered by this, the Ice witch sent her ice power to its full extent hoping to kill me in ice.

I saw this and brought the Mirror Shield to the ice streak just in time when the final ice had frozen me completely. The Ice witch let out a wail of agony, disappearing into its respective color.

"Shoot, what a fresh kid! This time, we'll get serious, right Kotake?" the witch spoke even though I couldn't hear them since I was frozen in ice.

The two witches appeared as spirits with halos above their heads. Koume scoffed as if she wanted something drastic to happen to me.

"What?" Kotake gasped. But then she widened her eyes when she saw something above her head. "Hey, Koume, what is that above your head?"

Koume looked up and gasped. "I don't know, but you have one over your head too, Kotake!" she then suddenly started to freak out. "But I'm only four hundred years old!" she screamed.

Kotake also freaked out. "And I'm just three hundred and eighty years old!" she screamed before facing each other.

"We're twins! Don't try to lie about your age!" it seemed as though they both spoke at the same time.

"You must have gone senile!"

The other witch gasped. "Who are you calling senile?! Is that how treat your older sister?"

"We are twins! How can you be older?"

"Keeeyaaah! How heartless you are!"

"How can you be so ungrateful!?" the other witch shot back, irritated.

"You're heartless!"

"You're ungrateful…" the two then suddenly stopped bickering as they felt themselves floating into the light though only the voice echoed.

"I'll come back to haunt you!"

Almost as if warmth had started to return back to me, I gave out a violent gasp of shudder when the ice slowly started to melt. When it fully melted, I dropped down to the ground, shaking uncontrollably because of its coldness.

"Link…are you okay?" Navi whispered, quietly.

"I…I…" I gasped, shuddering. Seeing my sword, I let one of my nearly frozen arms out to reach it slowly though it collapsed when it was near to it.

"Link!" Navi started to panic. It wasn't until then that something started to envelope me as if it was bringing me to a new place.

"P-please…d-don…don't…" I stuttered, feeling the sudden soft touch on my shoulder. The figure was pained to see me like this…it just couldn't stand to see me like this.

"Kid, let me thank you." the figure spoke.

I cracked one of my eyes open to see Nabooru who was kneeling beside me. I could tell she was trying not to show worry.

"Hehehe…look what the little kid has become in the past seven years—a competent swordsman!" she chuckled, softly then paused. "By the way…I really messed up…I was brainwashed by those old witches and used by Ganondorf to do his evil will…"

I shut my eyes tight, still feeling the cold that was in my heart. It still felt as if it was frozen.

"D-don't apologize…yo-you…d-didn't know…would…"

"Shh…don't talk. Rest." she commanded softly then thought about something. "But isn't it funny? That a person like me could turn out to be the Sage of Spirit?! And now, I'm going to fight them as one of the six Sages! Heh heh…I'm going to pay them back for what they did to me and to you! Kid…"

"L-Link…"

She smiled. "No…Link, the Hero of Time! Instead of keeping the promise I made back then, I give you this Medallion! Take it!"

The orange Medallion softly landed on my cold hands. I felt myself being transported into somewhere warm as I had also heard Nabooru's voice.

"If only I knew you would become such a handsome man…I should have kept the promise I made back then…"

"Link, the hero!" another familiar voice stated. "Finally, all of us, the six Sages, have been awakened! The time for the final showdown with the King of Evil has come!"

"Ra…uru…" I spoke, nearly stuttering. I was still cold.

He nodded. "Before that, though, you should meet the one who is waiting for you…The one who is waiting for you at the Temple of Time…" epically, he raised his hands up.


	24. It all starts here

**Shoutouts: **Thanks to johnw1 for following Skyward Sword and for following me as an author

Chapter 22: It all starts here

If there's anything, it would be for me to never getting frozen again. I just simply hated it with my guts. On the bright side though, I was returning to my normal state which makes me happy. But a sudden thought struck me about having to finally face Ganondorf.

I knew it was near and yet something seems off about the six Sages that have been awakened. I couldn't help it but to think that something was not right…as if I hadn't found the last one or something like that…

"Oh, I have to tell you about Mr. Ingo…He was afraid that the Evil King might find out that Epona had been taken away…It really upset him! But one day, all of a sudden, he went back to being a normal, nice person!" Malon told me which earned a confused look on me.

"How's that possibly?" I then thought about it. "Was he brainwashed?"

Malon shrugged. "I don't know. He just a really weird person…But anyways, my dad is coming back!" she placed on a smile. "I can't believe it, but peace is returning to this ranch! It's all because of you! I owe you so much!"

"You don't need to Malon. I'm just helping everyone; it's what I do." I smiled.

"I know but still…so thank you! Thank you, Link!"

I fake-blushed. "Aw stop it! You're making me blush!"

Malon laughed before petting Epona's soft mane. "Epona looks great! It looks like you were able to tame her, too! How about trying your skill with Epona on an obstacle course? I'll time you for two laps. It's pretty challenging. If you miss jumping a fence in the proper order, you'll fail."

I smirked. "I'm ready for any challenge!"

She rolled her eyes. "Alright then, Mr. Cocky Link. The current record is fifty seconds. First, try to beat this record! If you can beat the record, I'll give you a present! Give it your best shot, ok?"

"You're giving me little credit." I slightly pouted.

The girl chuckled. "You can say the words but can you make them true?"

Gasping dramatically, I placed my hand over my chest as if I was offended. "I'm hurt! How can you say such a thing?"

She rolled her eyes. "Alright. Let's get started, Mr. Dramatic."

I laughed, feeling the familiar breeze flying to my face. "This is too easy, Malon!" I shouted, jumping over another fence.

"You're only at seventeen seconds! Keep going!"

When I reached the final fence, she told me that I had one more lap to go.

Once the fence jump is done, Malon looked impressed.

"You did it! Forty eight seconds is the new course record! I have to give you a present to commemorate your new record!"

"Really, you don't need to."

"Well it's already been taken care of. The present is a little too heavy to give to you here, so I'll have it delivered to your house. Bet you can't wait to see it! Hee hee!"

I shook my head. "Oh, it intrigues me so!"

I was nearly startled when Malon called 'home'. It's been so long since the last time I used to call Kokiri Forest _home_. But now, it sounds more like the place was a foreign place…Nevertheless, I still welcomed Kokiri Forest since after all, that's was where I grew up…even if I don't feel "welcomed".

I finally arrived at Kokiri Forest though I had to leave Epona behind since she refused to go in.

However, I then stopped when I heard something coming out of my house which made me to quickly climb my ladder only to gap at the item.

It was a cow who mooed.

"Um…" Navi started but then faltered, seeing that she had nothing to say.

"Well then…" I tried but no words came out after that.

"What the heck are we supposed to do with a _cow_?" I hissed.

"I don't know! But you don't want to hurt the poor girl's feeling, don't you?"

"I…" I sighed. "No I don't but…argh, never mind."

I got out of my house then jumped down to reach the firm ground before deciding that I should visit the person in the Temple of Time. I have a hunch of who it is; my guess that it is Zelda.

"I have been waiting for you, Link." a voice spoke the minute I entered the Temple.

I turned around to see Sheik.

"Link, the Hero of Time…You have overcome many hardships and awakened six Sages. And now you have a final challenge, a showdown with Ganondorf, the King of Evil. Before that…I have things I want to tell only to you. Please listen. Another unknown legend of the Triforce passed down by the shadow folk, the Sheikahs..."

Almost as if he did it, the scene in my mind was morphed by showing the clouded sky with rain falling down.

A green column of light burst, revealing itself.

"If you would seek the sacred triangle, listen well…The resting place of the sacred triangle, the Sacred Realm, is a mirror that reflects what is in the heart…" a floating object twirled and floated upwards. It was the Triforce. "The heart of one who enters it…If an evil heart, the Realm will become full of evil; if pure, the Realm will become a paradise."

It seemed as though the blue streaks followed the Triforce as it floated higher and higher.

"The Triforce…the sacred triangle…It is a balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom and Courage. If the heart of the one who holds the sacred triangle has all three forces in balance, that one will gain the True Force to govern all. But, if that one's heart is not in balance, the Triforce will separate into three parts: Power, Wisdom and Courage. Only one part will remain for the one who touched the Triforce…the part representing the force that one most believes in. If that one seeks the True Force, that one must acquire the two lost parts." the voice breathed out its breath before continuing.

"Those two parts will be held within others chosen by destiny, who will bear the Triforce mark on the backs of their hands." the scene then vanished, showing us that we were back in the Temple.

"Seven years ago, Ganondorf, the King of Thieves, used the door you opened in the Temple of Time and entered the Sacred Realm." I stared at the smooth floor; yes, I still blame myself for it. "But when he laid his hands on the Triforce, the legend came true. The Triforce separated into three parts. Only the Triforce of Power remained in Ganondorf's hand. The strength of the Triforce of Power enabled him to become a might, evil king, but his dark ambitions were not satisfied."

I scoffed. "Of course it isn't." I rolled my eyes but listened anyway.

"To gain complete mastery of the world, Ganondorf started looking for those chosen by destiny to hold the two other Triforce parts. The one who holds the Triforce of Courage is…" Sheik paused as if he was wondering if I would be able to take the information of what he is going to say. "You, Link!"

Shock was in my face. Clearly. M-me? But I…How and why?

"M-me?" yet, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

"And the other, who holds the Triforce of Wisdom…is the seventh Sage, who is destined to be the leader of them all…" he brought his hands so that they would touch the wrist in front of his face.

His left hand started to glow…It was a faint glow but when it started to glow brightly, I was able to see that it was the Triforce…The light grew so brightly that I had to shield away. It died down, allowing me to see. However, I gaped at the figure that stood.

"It is I, the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda." she replied, earning a complete shock in my face.

"Zel…da…?" I finally uttered.

"I apologize for meeting you in disguise, but it was necessary to hide from the King of Evil. Please forgive me…" she pleaded.

Fo-forgive her…? I don't know. Anger started to come in. Like I said before, I was tired of having secrets being kept away from me. Though, at least it came from her not from someone else. I just don't know…I felt _betrayed…_

She slowly started to walk towards me as she spoke. "On that day, seven years ago, Ganondorf attacked Hyrule Castle."

Another scene morphed into my head. It was pitch black as Zelda's voice spoke.

"I saw you as I was escaping from the castle with my attendant, Impa." the scene then changed to the familiar image with the white horse running away from the castle with the two figures: Zelda and Impa. Zelda then removed Impa's arm so that she could throw it before being steady.

"I thought I should entrust the Ocarina to you…I thought that would be our best chance…As long as you had the Ocarina in your possession, I thought Ganondorf could never enter the Sacred Realm, but…"

"He did…"

She nodded. "But something I could never expect happened…After you opened the door of Time, the Master Sword sealed you away in the Sacred Realm…" she lifted one of her gloved hands as though to wipe away the tears. "Your spirit remained in the Sacred Realm…and then the Triforce fell into Ganondorf's hands. He went on to invade the Sacred Realm…Ganondorf had become the Evil King, and the Sacred Realm became a world of evil. All of this is an unfortunate coincidence."

"All of this is my fault." I replied bitterly.

Zelda shot me a sympathetic look. "Though, you still blame yourself, just remember that you're also Hyrule's last hope. You still have people looking up to you. However, I passed myself off as a Sheikah and hoped that you would return. I waited for seven years…" as though she placed her hands as if she was praying, I could see the hope lingering in her blue eyes. "And…now you are back. The dark age ruled by Ganondorf the Evil King will end! The six Sages will open the sealed door and lure Ganondorf back into the Sacred Realm." she explained.

I couldn't help but to still gaze at her. She had grown that's for sure…into a more mature and a beautiful woman. Her royal gown somehow grew long as though it actually resized itself so that it would fit her. Gold armor-like was placed on her shoulders while a golden crown settled on her head. Her long beautiful blonde hair flowed down, revealing two pointy ears and the earrings of the Triforce.

"I will then seal the door to the Sacred Realm from this world." her soft melodic voice snapped me back to reality. "Thus, Ganondorf the Evil King will vanish from Hyrule. Link…In order to do this, I need your courage again. Please protect me while I do my part. And here is a weapon that can penetrate the Evil King's defenses…The power given to the chosen ones…The sacred Arrow of Light!"

She raised her hands up to allow a golden circle surrounding her. Between her hands, a golden ball of light appeared, slowly forming into a shape that was known as the arrow of Light. The arrow gently flew towards me and I held it in my hands, delicately as if I was afraid that it would be broken if not held properly.

The moment the arrow flew into my hand, a sudden tremor filled the place aggressively. Zelda gasped at the sudden shake, turning around to find where it was coming from.

"That rumbling…It can't be!?" she gasped, terrified that it will be true.

"What can't be?" I asked, a bit confused.

Without a warning, something started to envelope Zelda making me to jump back with surprise. It soon revealed itself that it was a pink crystal that captured Zelda inside.

"Zelda!" I shouted, placing my hands on the crystal as if hoping that it will break. I kept on hitting it but nothing seemed to be working.

"Princess Zelda…you foolish traitor!" an evil cruel voice filled the air.

I narrowed my eyes at the all too familiar voice.

"Ganondorf." I hissed, making the dark voice chuckle.

"I commend you for avoiding my pursuit for seven long years. But you let your guard down…" I looked to see Zelda being shocked with fear. "I knew you would appear if I let this kid wander around!"

Almost as if she had no control, she let out a scream when her head went back and I stared at her with horror.

"Zelda!" I exclaimed, frightened by the sudden scene. "NO!"

"My only mistake was to slightly underestimate the power of this kid…" the pink crystal flew into the air, away from me.

"No…It was not the kid's power I misjudged. It was the power of the Triforce of Courage! But, with the Triforce of Wisdom that Zelda has…When I obtain these two Triforces…Then I will become the true ruler of the world!"

I snarled, dangerously as he laughed wickedly. "You will never be the true ruler! Not as long as I'm around!"

His laugh was suddenly abruptly got cut off when I spoke the words with confident. "Oh? Well then, _Link_," he spoke my name as if it was poisoned. "If you want to rescue Zelda, come to my castle!"

She then vanished, letting the evil cackle to escape. No…No…

Zelda…

"ZELDA!" I screamed. Snarling, I violently turned around to get out of this Temple. "I'm coming for you!"

I hurriedly got out of the Temple and into the path that led to Ganon's Castle. The image of Zelda was the only thing that kept me going. Nothing will stop in my way. Not even the horrible vibe that was coming from this forsaken place.

When I stepped on a muddy path, a voice came that nearly scared the crap out of me.

"Link…can you hear me? It's Rauru, the Sage." his deep voice echoed slightly.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Rauru, don't scare me like that!" I snapped somewhat.

He seemed to ignore me. "We six will gather our power to create a bridge to the castle where Ganondorf dwells…The castle's keep, which is known as Ganon's Tower, is protected by six evil barriers."

"Well isn't that ironic?" I asked, dryly.

"Bring down the six barriers and save Princess Zelda!" his voice then vanished.

Instead, the respective colors of the Sages, green, orange, blue yellow-ish, purple and red washed over me, feeling their warmth. A bit ahead of me, the Sages's light created a nearly translucent bridge with rainbow-y ledges. I gingerly placed a step on the glassy path as if I was afraid that it would fall apart.

When it was stable, I ran across to reach the dark entrance that loomed ahead; I then entered.

It looked like a hallway with a staircase-like when I first entered with lit torches at the side. Once I arrived at a new room, two electricity beams shot out of the still statue-like structure, nearly zapping me. Luckily, I just dodged them the minute they fired their lasers and I went into the next room.

The next room had a foggy appearance since it was beside the door; the fog waved around beside it. However, the fog had also blocked the path so I looked around and saw an available path to my left so I went that way. The path was a semi-circle and I finally reached the door that had a purple symbol on it; I went in.

I killed a flying green skull with three tries. Seeing a torch ahead of me, I got out my Fire Arrow to light it up which triggered the whitish silvery path in which it materialized in front of me. Quickly, I crossed then jumped to reach a larger path and then continued to jump the platforms until I reached the clothing monster eating.

I destroyed the monster and the white paths dissolved away. I again activated the unlit torch with the Fire Arrow so that the path could reappear again, allowing me to continue.

When I reached at the very last whitish silvery path, there was a switch and drew in a breath since I couldn't predict if I was going to make the jump since I was at a high point. Deciding, I jumped now though I slipped on the edge of the path and just luckily grabbed the edge of it.

My heartbeat just increased a lot and I pulled myself up to quickly hit the switch since I didn't know want to know what will happen if the time ran out for the path.

A chest emerged on the platform I just jumped from. Since the paths that were behind me disappeared, I took out my longshot to grab the "mouth" of the chest which it pulled me towards it.

The item was Golden Gauntlets…though more powerful than the silver Gauntlets since I could feel the strong power.

I couldn't help but to think that there was something hidden beside me so I got out my Lens of Truth (very handy) and smiled since I saw a hidden silvery path. I went on it to reach a small platform to activate the switch. In result, it opened the locked door that was ahead of me.

I went through the entrance once I reached the door and inside of the room, purple fire were lit on both side from its stand while a short stair case was placed between them. A purple thick "rope" with big red-ish jewel in the middle stood in the center of the path in which it was ahead of me.

Thinking, since it was probably filled with dark magic, I took out my Light arrow and hit it straight in the middle of the jewel. The purple rope vanished, having the jewel to expand into an oval-like shape before exploding into pieces. A figure then made its appearance with its arm crossed and I blinked when it was Impa.

She gave a curt nod. "The Shadow Barrier is dispelled! Please save the Princess!"

I was a bit fazed until realization hit me. The colors on the doors in which I had seen with those symbols represent of what Sage "lies" in a room. For example: if I had reached at a door with a red symbol and did some stuff in the room, I would find Darunia.

I get it…

Impa then vanished into a purple ball of light. I don't know why but I kind of liked that color…of course, green comes first. When she did disappear into a purple ball of light, images that looked like a hallway zoomed into my mind.

The second it started, it ended.

I blinked at the sudden pull when I realized that I was out of the room. I watched the purple streak up ahead being connected to two pieces of the ceiling, breaking the connection.

I then exited this "main" room so that I was now in a chamber that had the Beamos. Something told me that I had to do something outside. When I arrived at a spot, I spotted a slab of stone which looked heavy to lift so I thought about using the Golden Gauntlet to see if it works.

It worked when I felt the stone out of its place. I then turned around and threw it the opposite side of me; it landed on the ground with a heavy THUD. I turned around again to spot the entrance in which it was hidden from and went inside.

A scandalous laugh erupted the room's silence after I played Zelda's Lullaby.

"Welcome Link! I am the Great Fairy of Courage! I'm going to enhance your defensive power. Receive it now!" Red sparkles emitted out of hands as they swirled in order to reach me. A red circle encircled me, feeling my defensive power enhanced.

"Your defensive power has been enhanced! Damage inflicted by enemies will be reduced by half. When battle has made you weary, please come back to see me!" she then disappeared.

I then reached the Inside of Ganon's Castle to search for the rest of the five barriers. I then went to a door that had a green symbol; I smiled when I figured that I get to see Saria. I wonder how she is holding up.

In the middle of the room, there were unlit torches and a Wolfo appeared when it heard an intruder coming in. It was dead after hitting it with three strikes. Squinting my eyes, I also spotted another unlit torch up ahead on the ledge of the door so I took out my Fire Arrow to light it up as well as using Din's Fire to light up all of the torches that were on the ground.

As a result, it unlocked the door which I went through the entrance. Many silver Rupees were twirling around the air on many platforms; it looked as though the platforms had the same amount of the silver Rupees.

Deep chasm was below which made me nervous of course as I hate them very much. Getting the silver Rupees actually proved to be difficult since the one to my left would require the Hover Boots as well as the air geyser that was beside me. A Beamo was placed in the center of all of the platforms so I quickly took it out by trying to blow it up with the bomb; it blew up.

I got all of the silver Rupees and went into a new chamber. Upon the chamber, a green barrier was there with green flames so I did the same thing when I had entered Impa's "room" which was getting out my Light Arrow to destroy the green barrier.

Saria smiled when she saw me. I had so longed to see her; I missed her terribly.

"Saria…"

She shushed me by placing her finger on her lip. "The Forest Barrier is dispelled! Hurry up, Link!"

I felt the weird familiar pull, indicating that I was back to the entrance.

Up ahead of me, the green streak that was being connected to the one side to another dissolved. I then went to the door that had a blue symbol; I cringed when I had to see Ruto again…

But really, husband and wife?

In the room held a themed room in which it was ice. In the middle of the ice spikes was the blue fire in which it got destroyed by simply smashing it with my big sword; biggoron's sword…I don't really know how you spell his name.

Anyway…

I captured some Blue Fire in two of my bottles though I had to dodge the ice freezing monster. However, when I tried to go up to them, they vanished as if they were invisible. They reappeared which allowed me to attack them.

Apparently, it opened the locked door that was behind the fire wall-thing that got vanished when the Blue Fire melted it. So I went through the entrance to do some things in the new area such as pulling the large ice crates here and there; I have this inkling feeling that I had a time limit which was why I decided to hurry.

I finished the things just in time as my final time was one minute and twenty seconds. The locked door got opened once I slammed the Hammer on the switch.

In this room, had the blue barrier which got destroyed.

"The Water Barrier is dispelled! Hurry up!"

I was soon back at the entrance.

Like before, the blue streak that was connected to one side to the other dissolved away.

I then went to the next door with the red symbol. Lava greeted me as it filled the pits, replacing the deep chasm.

"Link, it's so hot in here! We can't stay here for long!" Navi complained, trying to fan herself from the ridiculous heat.

Thinking, I told Navi to turn around though she smirked until I threatened her that I will throw her into the lava. Obeying mutely, she turned around so that I could be changed into the Goron's tunic. I will have to thank Goron Link for giving me this.

The second I stepped on the wider path, it had instantly shook itself and when I jumped on the platform to collect the silver Rupee, the platform also shook since it indicated that it wasn't unstable.

I hissed when those flaming skulls emerged out of nowhere, scorching my cheek. I ignored them since they were useless. Seeing another slab of stone, I picked it up with the help of the Golden Gauntlets. Once everything was done, I went to the new room to destroy the red barrier.

Darunia had came, telling me that the Fire Barrier is dispelled and to hurry up.

I get it.

I then went in the entrance pf the yellow door after picking up the gigantic statue. The first thing that entered my nose was the foul air that filled up this place. I immediately knew that it had enemies though they were invisible. Using the Lens of Truth, I destroyed the Skulltula and the varieties of enemies that lingered in here.

As a result, I was rewarded with a small key and I had opened up the locked door. In the next room contained the Triforce symbol on the floor so I took out my Ocarina to play Zelda's Lullaby and I earned a small key.

The final room consisted of two rolling boulders that went around in a circle and like before, I had another inkling feeling about having a time limit.

I nearly got squashed from the rolling boulder when I tried to collect the silver Rupee though I just got out of the spot in the nick of time. I had to say: collecting silver Rupees is dumb…I was expecting something more challenging.

Ganondorf is terrible at creativity. I'll be sure to tell him that.

Anyways, I reached the room in which it contained the Light Barrier. Yet, I went through the wall in order to reach the Barrier.

"The Light Barrier is dispelled! Hurry!" Rauru stated, sending me back to the entrance.

And then, I entered the final Sage "room"; the Light Room.

In this room contained many enemies such as the Armos Statues, box traps and a Beamos. I decided to kill the Beamos as I did not want to be brutally zapped though, of course, I was being reckless and accidentally activated one of the Armos Statues. It brought me closer to the Beamos and the electric enemy spotted this so it brutally zapped; I swear that it felt like it was tearing my skin away.

When it stopped, I killed the Armos Statue and the Beamos. Nevertheless, I tried to dodge the box traps but there were too many of them so one of them managed to scrap my skin—above my ankle.

Once all the enemies that were in this room was destroyed—minus the box traps—I entered the second room. I used the Bombchu to activate the diamond-shaped switch that was behind the metal bars. In the third room, a spiderweb was on the ceiling so I burn it with the Fire Arrow. When I did, it flooded the room with sunlight.

I used the Mirror Shield but it was on the wrong one since a zombified hand with clawed fingernails dropped down to the ground without a warning, making me to be knocked out of my spot. An ominous sound that resembles of a howling wind came in so I used to Navi's advice which was watch for the shadows of monsters that hang from the ceiling.

Since I didn't know how to kill the wall-hand, I quickly (and finally) guessed the correct sun icon and the door opened. When the wall-hand started to drop, I hurriedly did a somersault and went inside just in time as I heard the heavy THUD from the wall-hand.

I demolished the Spirit Barrier and Nabooru came with a soft smile on her face.

"The Spirit Barrier is dispelled! Hurry up, kid!"

I scowled. "_Link_!"

She smirked as she sent me to the entrance.

The barrier that was in front of me suddenly gave a violent shook of colors; each of them having the same colors as the Sages. The swirling fog swirled around before it expanded, having the same pull pulling me in though I shielded myself from it.

I lowered my arms and found that I was in the same spot. The only thing that was different that the "fog" barrier was gone. My heart hammered against the rib cage as I realized that I was getting to the place of where Ganondorf lies.

In other words…

I was getting close the final showdown.

I crossed the bridge and into the dark, wicked entrance. The moment I was in, I heard some scratching sound as the chamber held a red carpet in the middle of the room followed by two lit torches. I turned to my left to climb up the red stairs with many swarming flaming skulls that got killed from a spin attack.

I then entered a door which got me locked in. Inside the room, it contained two enemies that were reptiles being clad in partial body armor, and wielded bladed weapons. The two of them dangerously held their weapons and I started to attack the first one.

I was able to get a hit on it but the next attack, he blocked it. When we both jumped at the same time, we both got hit: I got hit on the shoulders while the foe got struck in its chest, ending him quickly.

I rolled on the ground when the opponent wanted to do a sneak attack and in result, it didn't work. I did a spin attack which caused the enemy to block it and then he took a hit on me by having the tip of the blade scratching my neck.

The stung slightly bothered me and yet, I paid no attention as I wanted him dead. He jumped around whenever I tried to hit me which got me angry. Finally, I tricked him by thinking that I wanted to strike him and that made him to actually make a move.

When it did, I quickly stabbed him in the chest, ending him.

I entered the new area which was a semi-dark hallway as it had lit torches on the side of the walls. I ascended the stairs to see another door so I went in which of course got me locked in.

Oh woe is me…

In the middle had a flaming circle which contained a chest. So of course, two stalfos popped out of the ground and started to attack. Since I knew their plan, they were quickly demolished.

When I was fighting the last stalfo, I blocked his attack with my shield while at the same time, I flipped him over by using my foot to do so and delivered the fatal blow on him.

As a reward, I got the boss key and exited out of the room.

The same hallway with lit torches greeted me so I went to climb up the stairs to reach the next door. In this room, contained two heavy-armored knights that dangerously took a swipe at my neck; thankfully I ducked.

It was stupid of me to be cradled against a corner, making a perfect chance for one of the knights to smash at my face with its heavy shield. I started to go at my bleeding nose but I didn't had the time since the other black knight performed his attack though I dodged it by doing a backflip.

I then took a swipe at the silver knight who grunted in response. And then there were times when those two would have me to be between them so when the black knight started to plunge his sword at me, I quickly ran up to the silver knight and jumped in the air.

I placed my two hands on its shoulders so that I could behind him. The black knight then plunged its sword into the silver knight, killing him.

Angered, the black knight violently assaulted me with his attacks nonstop making me almost impossible to avoid all of his attacks which was why I got stabbed at my thigh, causing me to stagger. He brutally removed the sword then knocked me down by using his foot to do so.

I tried to get up but his heavy foot planted firmly on my back, unable to have me move. Navi gasped so she quickly raced towards the black knight who started to bring down his sword to my neck and when it was just an inch, she zoomed right into his face, blinding him with her bright light.

"You big jerk!" she blew a raspberry. In the end, she swiftly avoided his blind attack.

"Navi…" I muttered. Grunting, I slowly got up though on three tries and then I finally ended the brute before collapsing on the ground again.

"Link!" she raced towards me and was about to speak until she got startled. "Are…you…crying?"

"No Navi. I'm just randomly having tears out." I answered sarcastically.

She sighed. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know if I can do it. Everyone expects me to do something great. I'm just kid—er, teenager. How can I even stop the greatest evil? How? I'm not the Hero of Time…I'm not brave like him." I snorted. "I can't even accept that I _am _the Hero of Time…or rather a descendent, whatever the heck. I just can't…"

Navi felt bad for me. She knew that having the entire world on my shoulders was stressful and hard.

"I know you can. You have encountered many hardships and you always pulled through even if you felt like giving up. I know you, Link. You're the kind of person that doesn't back out from a fight and stands up to what he believes in. I just know you can defeat him."

Navi forced me to drink the red potion—I really hate those—before going further. I got out of the room and up the stairs until I faced the big door.

"This is it." I replied in a shaky breath.

The blue fairy nodded. "Yup…now or never. Once in, there's no turning back."

Silence.

"Hey Navi?"

"Hmm?"

"I just…I just wanted to thank you for being with me throughout this horrid journey. I don't what I'll do without you…even if you're kind of annoying…"

She frowned. "Even if though you're a big jerk, you're welcome."

We entered inside only to find a big chamber and a door that wasn't unlocked. So, I went through that one and then climbed another set of stairs and then went through the entrance where I knew that inside that room was the final battle.

The first thing that greeted me was the music that was played by him on his organ. I then looked up and gasped when is saw the ice crystal that contained Zelda.

The song of what Ganondorf was playing seemed to summon a Triforce that glowed in front of me on my hand…Zelda gasped when she saw a piece of the Triforce on her hand appeared.

"The Triforce parts are resonating…They are combining into one again…The Two Triforce parts that I could not capture on that day seven years ago…I didn't expect they would be hidden within you two!" he laughed as if he found that amusing. "And now, finally, all the Triforce parts have gathered here!"

He then turned around, his red eyes piercing into my soul as he hardened his glare at me. I slightly gulped at his appearance. There was nothing but malice and hatred written on his face. He wore a red cape, armor and had red hair, having a frightening appearance causing me to shudder from his glare.

"These toys are too much for you!" he said darkly. "I command you to return them to me!" as he said that, a piece of a Triforce floated into his hand. With a scream, he sent a swirling vortex against me and I tried to keep my balance so I wouldn't get knocked off my feet.

"Link! I can't help you! Because of the waves of darkness, I can't get close!" she cried. "I'm sorry, Link!"

"It…I will be fine!"

With a wave of his hands, it stopped and he floated into the air while releasing a laugh.

The final showdown had begun.


	25. The Final Showdown

Author's Note: We're almost done the story…*sniff*

Chapter 23: The Final Showdown

With a shout, he produced a ball of light then smashed it on the ground to create a shockwave. I quickly dodged it when he had smashed the magic on the ground. What should've been a full ground was now not since it had a platform in the middle of the room with gaps around it.

He raised his hand up, having crackling magic on his hand then he released it which I dodged it by moving to the side. He then summoned the same magic ball and released it at me but this time, my sword hit the ball and it went back at him. This went on for quite a while until the evil King missed it and got stunned from his own attack.

Now what? Now what?

Since it was a dark being…dark hates light…Quickly, I took out my Light Arrow and shot at him. I jumped on the platform where he collapsed and attacked him mercilessly before he got up.

Just as he got back up, he produced a shock wave though I didn't avoid on time since I still jumped away from the platform and the shockwave struck me, sending me to fly across the gap and to the opposite side.

Without having the time to get up, he immediately sent another of his magic ball, causing me to get struck from it. I gave a yelp when I felt the electricity coursing throughout my body. I panted when it stopped and then, I finally hit the ball of light back to him.

I didn't get a chance to shoot a Light Arrow at him since he washed away the stun. He then again produced the ball of light and sent it back to me. This time, I did got a chance to shoot a Light Arrow at him. He screamed, falling down to the platform so I can attack him.

He then changed his tactics by producing another great big ball of magic, having multiple of light streaks racing towards the ball. It was then that he released it, sending multiple of balls of magic. I didn't know what to do with it so I just hit one…it didn't work…

He again created the ball of magic to have multiple of magic balls. This time, I tried to do a spin attack which it worked since he got stunned so I took out my Light Arrow to shoot at him and then attack the evil being with my sword when he fell down to the platform.

I rolled my eyes at his lame strategy.

"By the way: you suck at having creativity." I called out as he angrily launched his multiple balls in which I did a spin attack. "This is really too easy…" I muttered.

Finally, Ganondorf had enough when he gave a scream of anger; his yellow glowing eyes glowed menacingly. The light in this room started to vanish because of him, making impossible to see what was happening.

Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

I cautiously stared at the black scene, his yellow eyes was the only thing that stood out.

Though, his breathing became ragged…

"The Great Evil King Ganondorf beaten by this kid?!" he asked, outraged.

I stared dumb-founded at him. I thought he was going to do something else…but…I…actually…won…

He tried to release another scream of frustration but it was a silent one.

"Link…"

And then, he gave out a scream of anger, summoning his power to wash over him. The ground started to shook, having the walls to crumple. I shielded my face so I wouldn't get any damage until a white light envelop us, sending us to another area. We were at a battlefield on a higher point with the dark wicked clouds above us.

However, Ganondorf stood still with his hands raised up before he collapsed to the ground; his power worn out. I stared numbly at the black blood that oozed out of him and then I looked up to see the pink crystal floating down.

The crystal then vanished to reveal Zelda who had her eyes closed as if she couldn't believe that this…all of this had ended.

She looked at the fallen wicked man, having no remorse for him at all.

"Ganondorf…pitiful man…Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the gods…and…"

The ground shook again, causing me to nearly lose my balance.

"Link, listen to me! This tower will collapse soon! With his last breath, Ganondorf is trying to crush us in the ruins of the tower! We need to hurry and escape! Please follow me!"

We descended down the path after I avoided a falling rock. We then faced a locked door then she summoned her magic to open it. More falling rocks came when we entered in, causing us to nearly get squashed from it.

She again produced her powers to open up a locked door so that we could inside. We jumped a gap before she opened up another locked door. We then went in another room and then another one then we were at a path that circled around the Tower. Because there was a funny angled path, I didn't see where I was going and fell down.

Zelda gasped, quickly grabbing my hand. She struggled a bit as I helped her in any way I could. At the last try, I was finally on the path.

"You okay?"

"Yes now go!" I shoved her so we could get moving.

Without wasting a second, we quickly sprinted to a room where things got complicated. Zelda gasped when a wall of fire encircled her; I groaned.

"Not now." I muttered before hurriedly went off to kill the two stalfos. It took a while which got me worried that I wouldn't make it on time since the brute would repeatedly launch his moves, scratching at my forearms every now and then.

Soon, they were dead which also meant that Zelda was free from the wall of fire and were able to continue. I grunted when another rock fell down, close to me once we entered a new room.

Things got a bit havoc as we descended down the stairs since more falling rocks fell down a lot then before. I gasped at the nearly unaware Zelda since a rock was falling down though she didn't notice it because she was dodging another rock.

"Zelda!" I shouted, quickly running towards her and shoved her out of the way just in time. However, I gave out a strangle yell when I felt the heavy rock smash at my ankle.

"Link? Are you okay?" she shrieked.

"Yes. Forget about me. I'll be fine! Go!" I struggled a bit to get up, causing Zelda to worry even more. Though, being stubborn, I ignored the pain that shot in my ankle and continued to get out of here.

A redead greeted us when we were at a bridge in a new area. I muttered something nasty about him before killing it. More rocks fell down and we saw the final exit so we rushed faster in order to avoid the rocks. Nevertheless, since I was behind, the rocks had finally caught up to me, nearly blocking my exit.

I was just lucky that Zelda had gone through unharmed. When I was about to exit, a rock tumbled down, hitting at the side of my forehead knocking me out…

* * *

"Link…Get up. Up. Up. Up!" a voice shrieked. It sounded as if it was panicking. "GET UP! Please!"

I moaned, fluttering my eyes while I pressed my palm at the side of my forehead only to find blood seeping out. I moaned louder when I felt a massive headache coming.

"Link, you're alive! Get your ass up! We don't have much time!" Navi panicked. I stared at her blankly until the aggressive shook forced me to realize that I still had to get out of this tower before it collapsed. I took Navi and stuffed her inside my hat so she wouldn't be behind.

I scrambled up to my feet til a pain shot at my ankle; I had forgotten that it was broken. Ignoring it, I finally saw a small exit which was actually big enough to go through and as I ran, the rocks fell down just as I dived through the hole as the rock blocked the entrance…

Zelda panicked when she didn't saw me. She thought that I had went through but when she turned around, I wasn't there.

"Link, oh by the Goddesses. Please be alive. Link…" she whispered. She couldn't bare to see me gone…just like that…

She blinked, thinking that she was probably imagining since she thought she saw something sticking out of the hole and came out. The Princess gasped when she saw the figure making a dive in order to get out.

"Link!" she screamed with delight, rushing towards me who fell on the ground with a gentle THUD.

"I'm alive!" I groaned.

"I'm so relieved! I thought…I thought…"

I smiled, crookedly. "It's going take a lot more than just rocks to end me."

She smiled then frowned. "What happened to your forehead? It's bleeding!"

I winced. "Well um…er…I got knocked out from a rock."

Before she could reply, a shook interrupted her causing us to look up. Booms filled the place, indicating that the tower was collapsing. The once strong Tower that held all of its pieces had finally collapsed, disappearing forever as it also brought down the greatest evil with it.

We breathed out a sigh of relief, grinning to each other that peace was finally restored in Hyrule.

"It's over…it's finally over…" Zelda whispered, unable to believe as well.

"Yeah…I guess it is…" she did something unexpected which caused me to be startled. She leaned on me, crying. Crying because everything was finally over. Crying because that this was truly the end; everything would go back the way it was.

No more evil. No more blood spilling. No more killing innocents who would oppose Ganondorf. The evil is truly gone.

Navi smirked, coming out of her spot before hitting me with her tiny hand. It didn't hurt, of course.

"Told you could do it."

I smiled before Navi spoke again.

"Link…I'm sorry I couldn't help you in the battle before!" Navi apologized.

"How many times do I have to say that it is okay?"

"I'm sorry, Link! But I really felt that I was useless!"

Zelda gasped, interrupting our bickering. We turned around to hear something as Zelda whispered what that sound was…

"Stay here." I told her before going to investigate.

As I was far away from her, another wall of fire separated us. Great. I cautiously stared at the black opening until a sudden heart-attack noise greeted me making me to gasp. The heavy breath filled the air and it showed me the Triforce.

"Ganondorf…?" I uttered, not believing. "I thought you were dead!"

How's this…possible? Of course, the Triforce was giving him more power…

He rose into the air, crumpling in a ball before he released a huge amount of his power; this time being blue. I gaped at the massive form when the blue power started to transform him into something more terrifying. With a swing of his two swords, he let out a roar as lightning flashed.

His form was a great, nightmarish boar-like creature armed with a pair of large swords. Ganon's yellow eyes glowed more wickedly than before, causing me to shiver from his gaze.

However, I felt something slip out of my hand and I realized that it was the Master Sword. It flew towards where Zelda was though it was just behind her a bit.

"There's no way he's going to hold me back again! This time, we fight together!" Navi shouted, determinedly.

"What? Are you mad? He could kill you!" I cried out.

She smiled softly. "At least I would die for a good cause."

I dodged the massive shockwave that was created from him. It's a good thing that I have another sword so I began to hack away his tail since that was probably his weakness. He dangerously took a swipe at me, causing me to narrowly dodge it as my head had almost been got cut off.

Can't you just do everyone's a favor and die?

He assaulted me again by using his two swords though I used my shield to avoid the powerful blow. It wasn't enough as I got knocked off from my feet.

It was a bit hard to see since the only light that I have was the light from the lightning that would flash every now and then. I ran towards him but he saw me and took a swing at me which I ducked and slid through his legs to attack his tail.

Angered, he unleashed a swing from his sword, creating a slice that was nearly beside my heart. I grunted from the discomfort and ignored the blood that oozed out.

The evil King sent another swing; this time, I dodged it by moving to the side then rolled on the ground and got back up so I was facing the tail. I attacked the tail before he roared with annoyance then his tail took a swing as it collided against me, sending me to fly across the air.

Muttering, I spat some dirt out of my mouth before getting up to do perform a jump attack which failed since he blocked it. I was able to hit his tail two times before he blocked my third attack.

I was slowly getting exhausted from all of this but I had to keep going. I want to save Hyrule. I want to save its people. I want to save the world. I'm the Hero of Time and it's my job to protect the people from the evil.

And nothing will stop me.

Ganondorf released a terrifying dark chuckle that boomed with the thunder.

"How could a boy like you hope to defeat the greatest evil?" he roared, swinging his tail to smash at my face, knocking me down to the ground. "You can't even accept the fact that you are the Hero of Time!"

I was about to get up until he picked me up and smashed me at the ground, mercilessly. He picked me up again by the scruff of my shirt and this time, he brought me closer to his ugly face.

"Well?"

I moaned, feeling my bones a bit cracked but then had anger etched into my face.

"Because I am the Hero of Time!" I screamed, plunging my sword into his face. As I did that, lighting flashed which caused Ganon to scream with agony as well. I grunted when I fell down to the ground sloppily while the evil King gave out a roar at the unpleasant hit. Snarling heavily, he removed the sword out of his face then threw it.

However, Zelda gasped when the lightning flashed as she saw the scene.

There, was me having the sword sticking out of my chest.


	26. The Hero of Time

Chapter 24: The Hero of Time

"Link…" Navi whispered, her eyes glued at the terrible scene. "No…no…" she flew towards me as I collapsed on my knees. The only sound that was heard was the evil cackle from Ganon.

"Link…" Navi replied, quietly as her eyes gathered tears. "Please…"

"I'll…be…fine…" I croaked then placed both of my hands.

"What are you…" I whimpered when the sword got pulled out. "You idiot. You shouldn't have done that."

I tumbled down to the ground, weakened as I was trying to breath steady. But I couldn't. It just hurts so bad…

"No, Link! Please you have to get up! You're Hyrule's last chance! You can't abandon us!" Navi cried, trying to get me up.

"Navi…" I closed my eyes. "It just struck me at my chest…not at my heart. Trust me: I'll…be…fine…"

"You always say that! Goddesses damnit!" she wept.

"And so ends the Hero." Ganon laughed, his voice rumbling.

Angered, Navi started to fly towards him but I grabbed her just in time and pulled her down.

"Link, lemme go!" she struggled against my grip.

"Be reasonable…you're going to get yourself killed." I hissed before she reluctantly obeyed. "Come here." I whispered her the plan before she nodded furiously then went towards Zelda.

Slowly but surely, Ganon's raised an eyebrow when he saw me that I was trying to get up.

"Pathetic." he hissed. "Why don't you die?"

"Because I won't…" I grunted before on the sixth try I finally got up, having Ganon to widen his eyes before he released a scream of pain when I hacked away his tail; the wall of fire was extinguished.

Seeing this, Zelda threw the Master Sword which I caught it then I started to kill him with the most effective weapon that could kill the great evil.

"How is it possible for you to keep going?!" he roared when I struck him again.

"Do you know why?" I yelled, attacking him. "It's because I have people who believe in me!" another strike. "They have faith in me!" another strike. "But most importantly…"

I ran up to him since I had to avoid his attack and I raised my sword, creating another strike which brought him down.

His menacing features no longer scared me. A burst of light suddenly struck him, making him to roar with agony since the light bothered him. I looked to see Zelda who was using her powers.

"I'm using my power to hold the Evil King! You use your sword and deliver the final blow!"

I nodded even though she couldn't see. Ignoring the pain that went in my chest, I boomed the sacred words.

"I am the Hero of Time!" I boomed.

I then struck him at his forehead and time seemed to be slow, freezing everything. It was a moment of silent; the only thing that was heard was my ragged breath. I dangerously narrowed my eyes at the stunned Fallen King before everything went back to normal.

The King gave out roars as lightning flashed, thrashing around as he didn't want to accept that he was defeated.

"Six Sages…Now!" Zelda screamed. She summoned a ball of light then collapsed from the amount of power she gave out.

"Ancient Creators of Hyrule!" a familiar voice boomed. "Now, open the sealed door and send the Evil Incarnation of Darkness into the void of the Evil Realm!" the six Sages appeared in their respective places and each of them produced their colors of balls that swirled around in the air as if it was forming something.

Then, it struck the middle to form a great big white circle that seemed to be sucking something.

"YOU…" the voice boomed. "CURSE YOU…ZELDA! CURSE YOU…SAGES!" it roared. "CURSE YOU…Link!"

Ganondorf screamed, feeling himself floating away with a horrible face etched into his face that was filled with malevolence. "Someday…When this seal is broken…That is when I will exterminate your descendants!"

He then vanished completely into the white void.

"As long as the Triforce of Power is in my hand…"

"Is it…truly over now?" I whispered as I leaned against Zelda who smoothed out my messy hair. My chest still hurts.

"Yes…" she softly spoke. "Thank you, Link…Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm! Thus, peace will once again reign in this world…for a time." she then lowered her head in remorse. "All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing…I was so young…I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm."

"Hey…don't worry about it. We learn from mistakes…" I coughed, wincing.

"Shh…rest." she softly murmured then spoke. "I dragged you into it, too."

"At least for a good cause. I wouldn't have met amazing people…" I whispered, shutting my eyes tight from the pain.

"Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes…"

I frowned. "What do you mean…?"

"You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time. However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed…Link, give the Ocarina to me…"

"W-why…?" I asked, a bit startled from the request.

"Please Link…" confused, I handed her the Ocarina gingerly.

"As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it."

"What?" I cried then moaned from the pain. "Please Zelda…don't do this. I don't want to. Please…" tears started to gather in my eyes.

"When peace returns to Hyrule…" she closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to cry. "It will be time for us to say good bye…"

"No…" I croaked. "Zelda please don't do this. I can't go back to my time. It won't be the same. Please…" I pleaded.

Tears won her over since a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry Link but I have to. It's for the best."

"Zelda no…" I whispered, silently crying.

"Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time!" she whispered. "Home…where you are supposed to be…the way you are supposed to be…"

"No don't do it...all of this…would be nothing but a memory…please…" I clutched her forearm tightly.

More tears fell down from her so I got up by still being on my knees slowly and saw that she was crying. I wiped the tears as I held some of mine.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered before playing the familiar tune. A blue light enveloped me, raising me away from her. The last thing I heard was her voice.

"Thank you…Link…Good-bye…"

* * *

I stared mournfully at the Master Sword since I brought back to its rightful place. I sighed, still not able to comprehend that the evil was actually gone…It's just…it's like a fairytale almost. All of this seems like a fairytale. I already knew that I was a kid again…

It was a long moment of silent before I finally spoke.

"I guess that it then. Good bye old friend."

Navi then suddenly flew high into the air as I watched her, disappearing from sight. I then turned around and walked out of the Temple while the Master Sword stood proudly at its spot.

Somewhere within another location was a person that looked like she was watching the window. The sound of the footsteps told her that someone else was here too so she turned around and saw me.

It was weird though…it felt like she had met me somewhere before but just where? I stared at the Princess, also feeling that I had a feeling I had met her before.

Neither of us spoke since we continued to gaze at each other…

Author's Note: *suddenly cries* I hate the ending! Like why Zelda why!? *sniff* well this concludes the story. I can't thank you enough of having me to reach 1, 235 views! Thank you to everyone who had followed and favored the story. I just simply can't thank you enough. So, thank you.


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